Anthony Martial is having a very complicated season at Manchester United, especially with injuries. However, the 26-year old striker had scored four times in his last six games with the Red Devils and that’s why many people thought he could make it to the 26-man squad for France in the 2022 World Cup.
The reigning World Champions are yet again the favorites and will play in Group D alongside Denmark, Australia and Tunisia. France will try to become only the thirdNational Team ever to hoist the trophy back to back: Italy (1934-1938) and Brazil (1958-1962).
Though France have a loaded team on attack, Anthony Martial could have sneaked in considering some of his teammates are having injury problems just before the tournament. Nevertheless, there are very important reasons why he has been snubbed various times.
Why is Anthony Martial missing the Qatar 2022 World Cup?
Anthony Martial has not been called with France for more than a year by manager Didier Deschamps. This semester, the striker has played just five games in the Premier League and has only scored two goals. Martial wasn’t considered for last year’s UEFA Euro and never appeared on any preliminary French list for Qatar.
Though Christopher Nkunku’s injury during a practice session opened the door for a striker to replace him on the team, Didier Deschamps decided to call Randal Kolo Muani who has 20 goals this season with Eintracht Frankfurt. Martial was snubbed for a second consecutive World Cup.
According to Deschamps, the biggest problem with Martial is he’s been ineffective on finishing plays. That’s why he chose as forwards Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona), Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich), Olivier Giroud (AC Milan), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid) and Kylian Mbappe (PSG).
