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Tuesday 24 Dec 2024
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LOCAL EDITION
Manchester United's Paul Pogba fights for the ball with Atalanta's Teun Koopmeiners, left, and Mario Pasalic during the Champions League group F soccer match between Atalanta and Manchester United, at the Stadio di Bergamo, in Bergamo, Italy, Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
PARIS (AP) — Paul Pogba will miss France’s World Cup qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Finland because of a right thigh injury, the national team said Tuesday.
Video footage on French media showed the Manchester United midfielder pull up after taking a shot in training on Monday, before hobbling away.
Jordan Veretout has come into the squad as a replacement for Pogba, who would likely have started for France in Saturday’s home game against Kazakhstan.
The French lead their qualifying group by three points and need one win from their final two games to seal first place and advance automatically to next year’s tournament in Qatar.
France plays Finland, which is four points behind in third place, on Tuesday.
Pogba has been serving a domestic suspension for United after getting sent off against Liverpool last month after coming on as a substitute, meaning he has missed the team’s last two Premier League games.
