Senegal striker Sadio Mané ruled out of World Cup

Mané had been a doubt for the tournament after picking up a leg injury playing for Bayern Munich last week

Senegal forward Sadio Mané has been ruled out of the World Cup in Qatar with a leg injury. Photograph: Christophe Archambault/AFP via Getty Images
Senegal forward Sadio Mané has been ruled out of the World Cup in Qatar with a leg injury. Photograph: Christophe Archambault/AFP via Getty Images

Senegal’s Sadio Mané has been ruled out of the World Cup after failing to recover from an injury, team officials have announced.

The former Liverpool forward was forced off after 20 minutes of Bayern Munich’s 6-1 win over Werder Bremen on November 8th.

Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann said Mané had taken a painful blow to his “tibial plateau” and would have an X-ray to determine the extent of the damage.

A further scan was recommended in Qatar and the Senegalese Football Federation has now taken the decision to rule Mané out of the World Cup.

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Team doctor Manuel Afonso told a press conference: “Unfortunately, today’s MRI says his recovery has not been as encouraging as we had hoped and we have decided to declare Sadio Mané’s withdrawal from the World Cup.”

Mané is Senegal’s record scorer and scored the decisive penalty as his country beat Egypt to win the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year.

Senegal begin their World Cup campaign against the Netherlands on November 21st and also face hosts Qatar and Ecuador in Group A.