Sadio Mané will miss the World Cup as he’s not recovering from his injury

Senegal forward Sadio Mané will miss the World Cup because of a leg injury, the Senegalese soccer federation said Thursday.

Mané was injured in a German league game between Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen on Nov. 8.

Most of Senegal’s squad arrived in Qatar for the World Cup on Sunday. The team’s first game in Qatar is against the Netherlands on Monday.

Senegal, the reigning African champion, had hoped that Mané could return but announced Thursday that it’s not possible.

Senegal plays host Qatar four days after it faces the Netherlands. Its final game in Group A is against Ecuador on Nov. 29.

Mané was injured early in the Bayern game. The Bundesliga club said the two-time African player of the year had an injury to the head of the fibula bone in his lower right leg.

Fabrizio wrote: “Sadio Mané will miss the World Cup, Senegal confirms. He will not be able to be part of the squad as he’s not recovering from his injury.”

But in a statement released by the Senegal football Federation on Thursday, cited by Fabrizio Romano, the former Liverpool superstar has been withdrawn from the Teranga Lions roster and he won’t play a part in this year’s World Cup.

Mane’s fitness has been a major cause of concern for Senegal, who claimed their maiden Africa Cup of Nations title in February. He finished second in this year’s Ballon d’Or voting behind Karim Benzema and scored the winning penalty in a dramatic shootout victory against Egypt in Cameroon. He repeated the feat again against the same opponents to qualify the Lions of Teranga for the World Cup, which starts on Sunday.

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that Virgil Van Dijk has expressed his dismay regarding his former teammate Sadio Mane, who looks set to miss Senegal’s opening World Cup game against the Netherlands next week. The Dutch team has already arrived in Qatar, and in one of Van Dijk’s first sentiments, the Liverpool defender sympathized with Mane’s situation. Van Dijk, who will captain the Netherlands national team, said he had spoken to Mane prior to the two nations’ clash and was certain the game would be a difficult one despite the absence of the star forward.

Mane is the latest high-profile name to be ruled out of the tournament, which is the first ever winter World Cup. Various other stars such as Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante and Mane’s ex-Liverpool team-mate Diogo Jota have also been ruled out of the showpiece event due to injury.

Bayern had released a statement after Mane had sustained the injury following speculation that the 30-year-old would not be fit for the World Cup. The statement read: “Sadio Mane has suffered an injury to the head of his right fibula in FC Bayern’s 6-1 win against Werder Bremen. Africa’s Footballer of the Year will miss Saturday’s game against Schalke.

“Further examinations will follow in the coming days. FC Bayern is also in contact with the medical staff of the Senegalese Football Association.”

Mane is one of Senegal’s most important players and has plundered 34 goals in 94 caps for his country – including four in the AFCON tournament as he came on on top against his former Liverpool team-mate Mohamed Salah and Egypt in a tense final shootout.

Senegal boss Aliou Cisse had been optimistic that Mane would be able to play some part in the tournament. And although Cisse had insisted that surgery was not needed to solve the problem, a further scan on Thursday revealed that Mane will need to undergo an operation to solve the issue.

Speaking earlier this month, Cisse said: “We are monitoring the situation and we sent a doctor from the federation.