Senegal and Bayern Munich star Sadio Mane is reportedly out of the World Cup after limping off with an injury against Werder Bremen on Tuesday.
Mane went down and received medical attention on the pitch before being taken off.
According to L’Equipe the former Liverpool forward has picked up a knee injury after damaging his tendon and is set to spend several weeks on the treatment table.
Mane’s absence will be felt massively in the Senegal camp – the man who has picked up 93 caps for his country and scored 34 times.
He was instrumental for the team on their way to winning this year’s Africa Cup of Nations as they beat Egypt on penalties in the final – having scored four goals during the tournament.
Speaking after the game, Bayern assistant coach Dino Toppmoller looked to play down the severity of the injury.
He said Mane suffered a slight nerve pinch but it wasn’t too serious and his World Cup shouldn’t be at risk.
However Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann confirmed after the match that the winger will “have an x-ray”.
Nagelsmann said: “I didn’t see him [Mane] after the game, I hope it’s not a big injury.
“But I don’t know at the moment. We’ll see tomorrow and then give an update.”
Mane looks set to join a host of star names who won’t be taking part in the tournament.
Just for England, Reece James is a major doubt and Ben Chilwell, Kalvin Phillips, and Emile Smith Rowe definitely aren’t going.
N’Golo Kante and Paul Pogba miss out for France, While Timo Werner of Germany and Diogo Jota of Portugal are among those who are sidelined.
It is a huge blow for Senegal who are in World Cup Group A and could face England in the second round.
They start their campaign against the Netherlands on November 21.
Host nation Qatar will be next up on November 25 before their final group game against Ecuador.
