France international N’Golo Kante has been ruled out of the Fifa World Cup finals after undergoing an operation on a hamstring injury, his Premier League club Chelsea said on Tuesday.

The midfielder, who played a pivotal role in Les Bleus’s winning campaign in 2018, suffered a setback in the final stages of his recovery last week and has now been ruled out for four months after the surgery.

Kante’s early season has been marred by the hamstring problem that has now ruled him out of selection for the November 20-December 18 World Cup in Qatar.

The 31-year-old has only featured in two Premier League games and played a total of 175 minutes this season.

“The midfielder visited a specialist with the club’s medical department to explore the options for his rehabilitation approach and it was mutually agreed for N’Golo to have surgery to repair the damage,” Chelsea said in a statement.

Kante has been a vital player for Chelsea since his move from Leicester City in 2016 and equally important for France, having earned 53 caps.

Coach Didier Deschamps had warned that he would not pick any player who would not be fit for the start of the tournament.

He now faces some tricky choices before naming his squad as another key midfielder, Paul Pogba, is a doubt after the Juventus player underwent knee surgery last month.

On Tuesday, to add to Deschamps’ concerns, Thomas Lemar exited Atletico Madrid draw against Rayo Vallecano in the first half with a muscle injury.

Atletico said in a statement that Lemar “had to be substituted due to a muscular discomfort” and the team is depending on further exams to establish the severity of the injury.

France were drawn in Group D with Australia, Denmark and Tunisia.

Preliminary selection

World Cup coaches must submit a preliminary selection of players for the tournament by Friday as they begin the process of finalising their squads.

Each of the 32 participating countries must send a list of a minimum of 35 players up to a maximum of 55 by the end of the day, in the first step in the selection process.

Coaches then have until November 14 to decide on their final list of 26 players. Fifa will publish all the squads the next day. The tournament kicks off on November 20 with the final on December 18.

The final squad must come from the preliminary list, with no allowance for any late changes of mind over the next three weeks, Fifa’s tournament rules and regulations stipulate.

World football’s governing body will not publish the preliminary lists but some countries might choose to do so, signaling their intentions and potentially putting to bed some of the early debate about team selection.

England’s debate about their right-back position might also get clarity as manager Gareth Southgate makes his choices. There has been speculation about whether Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold is in his plans after recently being overlooked.

Brazil left out Gabriel Jesus for two friendlies in France last month amid stiff competition for places in the forward line and despite his fine form for his new club Arsenal this season.

The number of players in the final World Cup squads have been increased by three — from 23 to 26 — for the tournament in Qatar.

Fifa said in June the decision to expand squads was made “given the need to retain additional flexibility due to the unique timing” of this year’s competition, which will interrupt the European club season.

Player tests positive

Costa Rica midfielder Orlando Galo has tested positive for a prohibited substance following a random test carried out in September, the country’s football federation (FCRF) said on Tuesday.