Aurélien Tchouaméni, who left Friday’s training with adductor pain, will miss France‘s World Cup round-of-16 match Saturday vs. Paraguay in Philadelphia, but the team is hopeful he would return in time for a potential semifinal, should France advance, sources told ESPN.
Medical scans done on Friday revealed a tear in his groin area, sources confirmed.
The injury is not serious, but enough to keep the team’s vice-captain out of Saturday’s round of 16 game and likely out of the quarterfinal if Les Bleus beat Paraguay.
The Real Madrid player’s absence is a huge blow as he has been a key player for Didier Deschamps. He will be replaced by Manu Koné in the starting lineup alongside Adrien Rabiot.
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They played together against Iraq (3-0) in the group stages when Tchouaméni was rested by Didier Deschamps.
Should France make it past Paraguay, they would face either Canada or Morocco in Boston next Thursday. Beyond that, they would potentially next face either Portugal, Spain, the United States or Belgium in the semifinals.
