France have suffered yet another blow to their World Cup hopes after a fourth member of what would likely have been their starting XI was ruled out of the tournament.
Central defender Presnel Kimpembe joined Paul Pogba and Ngolo Kante in being ruled out of the tournament with about a week to go ahead of the French opener. Real Madrid icon Karim Benzema was then forced to head home from what might be his last World Cup on Saturday.
Now Didier Deschamps has suffered another blow, after Lucas Hernandez went down after just 13 minutes against Australia. The defender twisted awkwardly during Australia’s opening goal as Matthew Leckie ran at him.
The French national team confirmed the following morning that Hernandez would be out of the tournament after tearing his ACL. He had only just returned from injury after a muscle problem suffered against Barcelona in September.
