Sadio Mané’s World Cup dream is over before it even began. The Bayern Munich forward will not play at all in the tournament following reports that he was only going to miss Senegal’s opener.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Mané will not recover in time to play any of his national team’s matches. Romano tweeted, “BREAKING: Sadio Mané will miss the World Cup, Senegal confirms. He will not be able to be part of the squad as he’s not recovering from his injury.”
For Senegal it is a huge blow, as they are in Group A with host Qatar, Netherlands, and Ecuador. Mané suffered a leg injury while playing for Bayern Munich against Werder Bremen.
Sadio Mané Senegal stats
Sadio Mané was called up by coach Aliou Cissé knowing full well that the former Liverpool forward may not recover in time. On Thursday the worst was announced that Mané will not play the tournament at all.
Mané has 34 goals in 93 caps for his national team, Qatar 2022 was supposed to be his second World Cup. Mané scored against Japan in Russia 2018 when Senegal went 1-1-1 in Group play with Colombia, Japan, and Poland.
With Senegal, the former Liverpool great won the African Nations Cup in 2021.