Frankfurt striker Randal Kolo Muani has been called up to the Blues for the 2022 World Cup to replace injured Christopher Nkunku, the French Football Federation (FFF) announced on Wednesday November 16.

 "Currently in Japan with his club", Kolo Muani "will join the France team in Doha on Thursday morning", specified the FFF.

At 23, the former Nantes player had his first two selections in September.

Didier Deschamps has decided to call Randal Kolo Muani to replace Christopher Nkunku!

#ProudofBleus pic.twitter.com/U16wGla7yF

– French team ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) November 16, 2022

He completes the dense attack of the Blues, led by holders Karim Benzema, Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappé.

Also with Ousmane Dembélé, Kingsley Coman, Olivier Giroud and Marcus Thuram, Kolo Muani appears quite far in the offensive hierarchy, where Nkunku had his card to play.

Top scorer in the German championship, the Leipzig player withdrew on Tuesday evening after training on the Clairefontaine field, which he left grimacing.

He suffers from a sprained left knee, revealed after radiological examinations.

The official list of the 26 players summoned for the world having been transmitted to Fifa on Monday, the management of the Blues had to request the international federation to be authorized to make this replacement, possible in the event of injury until the day before the first match. , Tuesday, against Australia.

Eight goals this season

Preferred to other attacking players like Wissam Ben Yedder or Moussa Diaby, Randal Kolo Muani is benefiting from his excellent start to the season with Frankfurt, which is competing in the Champions League.

He has already scored eight goals this season in all competitions, including six since mid-October and two in the Champions League, helping his club qualify for the round of 16.

Having left FC Nantes in the off-season, the native of Bondy (Seine-Saint-Denis), like Kylian Mbappé, has experienced a meteoric rise in recent years.

In 2020, he was still playing in National with Boulogne-sur-Mer, on loan from Nantes, the only club to have trusted him at almost 17 years old.

With the Canaries, "RKM" had several highlights: the victory in the Coupe de France last May, but also the maintenance in Ligue 1 thanks to a decisive goal in the play-off against Toulouse, in 2021.

This course had ended up opening the door to the Blues in September.

"If I'm here in front of you, it's because I can now apply for the World Cup. It's in the back of my mind, it will be up to me to prove in training, on a daily basis," he said. press conference, a few days before his first two selections - short appearances in the League of Nations against Austria (2-0) and Denmark (0-2).

With AFP

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