Qatar World Cup 2022: France secured an impressive 4-1 victory over Australia on Tuesday. However, Lucas Hernandez of the former suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury, ruling him out of the tournament remainder.
In yet another setback for the defending French side, defender Lucas Hernandez suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury during his side's 4-1 success over Australia at the Al Janoub Stadium in Al-Wakrah on Tuesday. As a result, he has been ruled out for the remainder of the tournament. He joins the long list of injured elite players, including Paul Pogba, N'Golo Kante, Karim Benzema and Christopher Nkunku, thus piling more pressure on head coach Didier Deschamps. It happened just nine minutes into the contest as he was down, clutching his right knee after being turned by Matthew Leckie in the lead-up to the opening goal from Craig Goodwin.
France defender Lucas Hernandez has torn his ACL — he is out of the World Cup and his 22/23 season is over. 🚨🇫🇷
Follows Benzema, Nkunku, Kanté, Paul Pogba, Maignan and Kimpembé as injuried players for France. pic.twitter.com/FBnRAwYwgT
Deschamps and veteran French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris admitted after the conquest that things did not look encouraging for the Bayern Munich defender before the French side confirmed his injury. He is also expected to miss out on some of the ongoing 2022-23 club season remainder, which resumes next month after the WC.
France subbing Lucas Hernandez off for Theo Hernandez pic.twitter.com/OiZktEGKKm
— A🤾🏽♂️ (@Akzyy)FOLLOW QATAR WORLD CUP 2022 UPDATES HERE
Lucas Hernandez got cooked and he took his ACL away 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
— Ebe Westside 🏴 (@Ebe4Eva)"Like the whole group, players and staff, I am extremely sorry for Lucas. We are losing an important element. Lucas is a warrior, and I do not doubt that he will do everything possible to return to the game. I know him well. Courage, he will have it, that's for sure. On behalf of the group, I wish him the best possible recovery," said Deschamps after the triumph, reports FotMob.
Lucas Hernandez is out of the World Cup. Major blow for France. pic.twitter.com/8eg1JwLayN
— WorldCupImage (@worldcupimage)