Senegal football star Sadio Mane will miss the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup to be hosted by Qatar due to injury.

Mane had surgery on the leg injury he sustained in Bayern Munich’s meeting with Werder Bremen on Bundesliga Matchday 14. His club said in a statement:

Sadio Mane underwent successful surgery. During the operation, a tendon was reattached to the head of his right fibula.

The FC Bayern forward will therefore no longer be available to play for Senegal at the World Cup and will begin his rehab in Munich in the next few days.

Mane has scored 11 goals and made four assists for the German club this season.

The former Liverpool winger was injured on 8 November in the champions’ penultimate Bundesliga fixture of the calendar year.

Despite the setback, the 30-year-old was still included in the Senegal squad for the World Cup, in the hope he would be fit come the latter stages of the groups.

Senegal’s hopes of progressing to the knockout stages of the 2022 World Cup finals were probably pinned on Mane after the forward won the African Cup of Nations in February, before firing his country to the World Cup finals in a playoff win over Egypt.

Mane was named African Player of the Year and finished second behind Karim Benzema in the 2022 Ballon d’Or vote.

He also won the inaugural Socrates Award for his charitable work in his homeland. | Bundesliga