Aurélien Tchouaméni, who left Friday’s training with adductor pain, is out of France‘s lineup for the World Cup round-of-16 match Saturday vs. Paraguay in Philadelphia,
Medical scans done on Friday revealed a tear in his groin area, sources told ESPN.
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 was replaced by Manu Koné in the starting lineup alongside Adrien Rabiot.
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Koné and Raboit 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 Morocco in Boston next Thursday. Beyond that, they would potentially next face either Portugal, Spain, the United States or Belgium in the semifinals.
