Sadio Mane To Miss Senegal's 'First Games' At The 2022 FIFA World Cup In Qatar.

Sadio Mane will miss Senegal’s first group fixtures at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Senegal’s Teranga Lions landed in Doha on Sunday for the FIFA World Cup without their ever dependable Sadio Mane who is nursing injuries from a Bundesliga game for Bayern Munich against Werder Bremen last Tuesday.

The 30-year-old forward had been forced off in the 20th minute of Bayern’s 6-1 trashing of Bremen, with the German champions later confirming that he had an injury “to the head of his right fibula” and missed Saturday’s game against Schalke

Head coach Aliou Cisse could not afford to drop Mane from the party despite his injuries when naming his final 26-man squad on Monday.

The news of Mane's unavailability, was revealed by Senegal federation board member, Abdoulaye Sow.

“We will have to rely on playing the first games without Sadio and win without Sadio because we have 25 players apart from Sadio,” Sow said.

“No one would have wanted it, but that’s what’s happened to us.”

Sow didn't specify how many games the two-time Africa Footballer of the Year is expected to miss, and there has been no official word from Senegal or Bayern Munich.

The ex-Liverpool attacker is his country’s record goalscorer, with 34 goals in 93 caps, as he led his nation to their first-ever Africa Cup of Nations triumph at the start of 2022.

He scored the winning penalty as Senegal defeating Egypt in a shoot-out in the AFCON final in February.

In a clash that again saw him face his fellow Liverpool team-mate Mohammed Salah, Mane repeated the feat, netting the decisive spot-kick as Senegal beat Egypt on penalties in a crunch play-off in March, as they grabbed one of Africa's five tickets for the World biggest sporting event in Qatar.

Mane's fitness is paramount as the reigning African champions will face the Netherlands in their Group A opener on Monday, November 21, before facing the host nation Qatar on 25 November,  and Ecuador on 29 November, 2022.