Former Liverpool star Sadio Mane was forced off with an injury for Bayern Munich just 13 days before Senegal begin their World Cup campaign.
The forward, 30, appeared to suffer a knee injury 20 minutes into Bayern's Bundesliga clash with Werder Bremen on Tuesday night. He received treatment as he sat on the turf before trudging off the pitch, with Julian Nagelsmann sending on former Manchester City winger Leroy Sane as his replacement.
The sight of Mane being withdrawn less than two weeks before the World Cup gets underway in Qatar is a major cause for concern for Senegal - and fans across the world. He is the talismanic player for his nation and played a key role in their Africa Cup of Nations triumph earlier this year.
Mane also helped Senegal defeat Egypt in a second penalty shootout in two months to qualify for the World Cup finals. Given his fine tally of 34 goals in 93 international appearances, Senegal will be distraught if his injury is enough to rule him out of the competition.
Speaking after the match, Nagelsmann said of Mane: "I didn’t see him after the game, I hope it's not a big injury. But I don't know at the moment. We'll see tomorrow and then give an update."
At the very least, it appears unlikely Mane will feature in Bayern's final fixture before the World Cup-enforced break, a trip to Schalke on Saturday. The Bavarian giants were drawing 1-1 at the time of his substitution after Anthony Jung scored for the visitors at the Allianz Arena to cancel out Jamal Musiala's opener.
Normal service soon resumed for the reigning Bundesliga champions as Serge Gnabry struck twice - with Sane assisting his second - either side of a Leon Goretzka goal to give the hosts a 4-1 lead at half-time. But a dazzling first 45 minutes was overshadowed by Mane's injury, which comes shortly before Senegal take on Netherlands, Qatar and Ecuador in Group A.
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The former Southampton forward is the latest player who is facing a race to be available to make the trip to the Middle East, while numerous big names have already been ruled out of the tournament. South Korea captain Son Heung-min is fighting an uphill battle to prove his fitness after suffering four fractures to his eye socket while in action for Tottenham.
Meanwhile, France duo Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kante, Germany's Timo Werner and Portugal's Diogo Jota have been ruled out, as have Netherlands midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum and England defender Ben Chilwell. The Three Lions are also sweating over the fitness of Chelsea defender Reece James and Manchester City duo Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips.
Gareth Southgate will announce his squad for the World Cup on Thursday, with England set to take on Iran, United States and Wales as they aim to go one better than they did at Euro 2020 last year, when they were defeated by Italy in the final.
