Kante injury news: Chelsea star pulls out of France camp with hamstring injury

Premier League heavyweights Chelsea remain unbeaten ever since the arrival of Thomas Tuchel in place of Frank Lampard. But the German tactician has now suffered a major setback as the season approaches the business end with his star midfielder N'Golo Kante returning to Stamford Bridge after sustaining an injury with the France national football team during the international break. Kante, thus, misses out on the remaining two fixtures for Didier Deschamps. 

Kante injury news: Chelsea midfielder sustains hamstring injury 

Kante played the entirety of the France national football team's opening 2022 World Cup qualifier clash against Ukraine. The 29-year-old seemingly felt some discomfort after the game on Wednesday. Further examinations on the Chelsea midfielder revealed a hamstring injury, which will effectively keep him out of the remaining games against Kazakhstan and Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

France released a brief Kante injury news following the game against Ukraine. The statement read, "N'Golo Kante will miss the games against Kazakhstan and Bosnia-Herzegovina due to a hamstring strain. The Chelsea midfielder will leave Les Bleus on Friday and return to his club."

Kante injury update: Chelsea optimistic over midfielder's availability 

The World Cup-winning manager has decided not to call for a replacement for the 29-year-old French superstar. Meanwhile, the focus shifts to Chelsea boss Tuchel who will now have to see if the midfielder is available for the Blues' Premier League clash against West Bromwich Albion on April 3. 

Uncertainty remains over the midfielder's availability for Tuchel. He has been one of the key players for the former Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) manager, having started four of the previous five games in the Premier League while he was also named the Man of the Match following Chelsea's scintillating performance to knock out Atletico Madrid in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16. 

World Cup European Qualifiers results: France held by Ukraine 

Meanwhile, the world champions were held to a 1-1 draw in the opening qualifier clash. Antoine Griezmann scored from a beautiful curling shot to bag the lead for Les Blues, bringing up his 34th goal with the national team. But Serhii Sydorchuk equalised in the second half after a shot inside the penalty box landed past the post after taking a massive deflection from defender Presnel Kimpembe.

The frontline of Kylian Mbappe, Griezmann, Olivier Giroud and Kingsley Coman could not bag the lead any further, with the game ending in a draw. With the stalemate, France sit fourth in the Group D World Cup European Qualifiers table, with the other three teams also bagging a point each. They will next play Kazakhstan on Sunday.

Image courtesy: France Twitter