Soccer world champion France has to do without its star Paul Pogba at the World Cup in Qatar.

The midfielder will not be at the tournament, French news agency AFP reported on Monday, citing a letter from Pogba's agent Rafaela Pimenta.

According to the newspaper "Le Parisien", the 29-year-old needs rest after an operation on the meniscus in September, as recent studies have shown.

He has also been suffering from a thigh injury for a few days.

When winning the title in Russia in 2018, Pogba scored the goal to make it 3-1 in the 4-2 final against Croatia.

The French international returned from Manchester United to Juventus this summer, where he had played from 2012 to 2016.

National coach Didier Deschamps is also without midfielder N'Golo Kanté.

The 31-year-old from Chelsea had to undergo surgery for a hamstring injury and will be out for several months.

France meets Australia, Denmark and Tunisia in the preliminary round.

Japan relies on Bundesliga professionals

Germany's group opponents Japan are traveling to the World Cup in Qatar with the currently injured Ko Itakura from Borussia Mönchengladbach.

The 25-year-old, who suffered a serious knee injury, is in the squad for the German group opponents along with seven other professionals from the Bundesliga and second division.

The central defender injured his knee in September and was able to do light training again at the end of October.

Nevertheless, it was already clear that Itakura would not play another game for the Bundesliga club this year.

The defender should now play for Japan at the World Cup, which begins in about three weeks.

The squad of 26 players announced by national coach Hajime Moriyasu on Tuesday also includes Ritsu Doan (24 years old/SC Freiburg), Daichi Kamada (26/Eintracht Frankfurt), Takuma Asano (27/VfL Bochum), Wataru Endo (29) , Hiroki Ito (23/both VfB Stuttgart) and Maya Yoshida (34/Schalke 04) from the top German division and Ao Tanaka (24) from the second division club Fortuna Düsseldorf.

Somewhat surprisingly, veteran Genki Haraguchi from Bundesliga leaders 1. FC Union Berlin and former Bundesliga professional Yuya Osako are not going to the tournament, which begins on November 20 in the Gulf Emirates.

The now 32-year-old Osako played for 1. FC Köln and Werder Bremen, but has been active again in his home country with Vissel Kobe since last year.

Attacker Kyogo Furuhashi from Scottish giants Celtic Glasgow was also excluded.

"Our goal is to at least reach the quarter-finals," said coach Moriyasu in Tokyo, adding: "It won't be easy." Japan, who are in the finals for the seventh time, will score in the first preliminary round match on November 23 at the Khalifa International Stadium on the selection of the German Football Association.

Other opponents in Group E in Qatar are former world champions Spain and Costa Rica.