Senegal star Sadio Mane ruled out of World Cup with leg injury

Senegal forward Sadio Mane will not play at the Qatar 2022 World Cup due to a leg injury, the team’s doctor has said.

“Unfortunately, today’s [Thursday] MRI shows us that the improvement is not as favourable as we imagined and unfortunately, we have to withdraw Sadio from the World Cup,” said Manuel Afonso in a video on the official Senegal Twitter account on Thursday. He added that surgery will have to be done soon.

Mane has been ruled out of the tournament because of an injury to his right fibula, the country’s football federation said, which was sustained while playing for Bayern Munich against Werder Bremen during a German league game on November 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 plays host Qatar four days after it faces the Netherlands. Its final game in Group A is against Ecuador on November 29.

Mane has been the team’s talisman, scoring the winning penalty at the Africa Cup of Nations final in Cameroon in February and six weeks later securing World Cup qualification. On both occasions, they edged out Egypt on post-match penalties.

Mane, 30, has twice been named African Footballer of the Year.