More woes for France as Pogba is set to miss the World Cup

France Midfielder, Paul Pogba is set to miss the 2023 FIFA world cup in Qatar, after failing to recover from knee surgery, his agent revealed on Monday.

The 29 year old has still yet to recover from the surgery he had in September to fix his damaged meniscus, a procedure that threatened to end his World Cup dream.

“Following yesterday and today’s medical review in Torino and Pittsburgh, it is extremely painful to inform Paul Pogba will still need recovery time from his surgery,” agent Rafaela Pimenta said.

“For this reason, Paul will not be able to join Juventus squad before the World Cup break nor the French national team in Qatar. If wishful thinking would change things, Paul would be playing tomorrow.”

Pogba injured his knee in July while on preseason with the Serie A club and first decided not to undergo surgery on his meniscus before changing his mind and having the operation.

He faced a race against time to recover in time to lead Les Bleus into the 2022 tournament and France boss Didier Deschamps was also aware of the situation.

Juventus released a statement on Monday that read: “Paul Pogba, in light of the recent radiological examinations performed at J|Medical and the consultation carried out in Pittsburgh by Prof. Volker Musahl on the evaluation of his knee, needs to continue his rehabilitation program.”

Pogba was one of France’s most influential players in their 2018 World Cup triumph, scoring in the 4-2 win over Croatia in the final as they won the trophy for the second time.

The news is a huge setback for the Les Bleus’ , who are already missing Ngolo Kante for the tournament slated to hold in Qatar in less than 20 days

Kante’s early season has been marred by an hamstring problem which has ruled him out of selection for the World Cup.Kante has featured in only two Premier League games and played a total of 175 minutes this season.

The midfielder, who played a pivotal role in Les Bleus’ winning campaign in 2018, suffered a setback in the final stages of his recovery last week and has now been ruled out for four months after the surgery

The injury to the two mieldfield lynchpins has opened the door for Matteo Guendozi,Youssouf Fofana to stake a claim for a starting berth, while competing with the two Madrid youngsters,Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga and Andrien Rabiot.

France will face Australia, Denmark and Tunisia in Group D at the World Cup finals.