France have confirmed that N’Golo Kante has suffered a small left hamstring tear with the midfielder set to return to Chelsea for rehabilitation.
The 29-year-old picked up the problem during the 1-1 draw with Ukraine on Wednesday, though he was able to complete the 90 minutes.
But now Thomas Tuchel has been left sweating over the fitness of the midfielder and his ability to recover in time for the Champions League quarter-final first leg on 7 April.
A statement from the French Football Federation read: “N’Golo Kanté will not take part in the next two matches of the French team on Sunday in Kazakhstan and three days later in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
“The Chelsea midfielder felt a pain in his left hamstring at the very end of the match against Ukraine on Wednesday at the Stade de France.
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“He had clinical and radiological examinations on Thursday, which revealed a small lesion.
“In consultation with Doctor Franck Le Gall, national coach Didier Deschamps decided to put N’Golo Kanté back at the disposal of his club on Friday.
“N’Golo Kanté will not be replaced. It is therefore a group of twenty-five players who will fly to Kazakhstan on Friday morning.”
Kante will now return to Cobham on Friday night after Deschamps released him from the French squad.
While the larger concern for Tuchel will be Kante’s involvement against Porto, the player will first look to recover quickly to be available for the Premier League match against West Brom next Saturday.
