Tunisia’s Yassine Khenissi to miss World Cup: reports

CAIRO – 11 May 2018: Another Tunisian player will be absent from the 2018 World Cup, Tunisian reports claimed on Thursday.

Due to injury, Esperance Sportive de Tunis striker Taha Yassine Khenissi was subbed off in the 20th minute of the Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 match against JS Kairouan, which ended 2-2.

The Tunisian newspaper reported that Yassine Khenissi suffered from a tear in the thigh and would require a rest period of nearly two months. If the diagnosis is confirmed, the player would be out of the next World Cup, as he will be out from five to eight weeks.

Khenissi would be the second Tunisian player to miss the World Cup dream, as Tunisian national team coach Nabil Maaloul declared last April that Tunisian midfielder Youssef Msakni will not participate in the 2018 World Cup.

Msakni suffered a cruciate ligament injury in the Qatari league, where he plays with Al-Duhail, and the 27-year-old initially believed his World Cup chances were over.

Tunisia is placed in the seventh group of the World Cup alongside England, Belgium and Panama.