Ousmane Dembele has been ruled out of the European Championship because of a knee injury, the French soccer federation said on Monday.
Dembele sustained the injury during a 30-minute appearance as a substitute before being replaced late in the team’s 1-1 draw with Hungary on Saturday. France said Dembele had X-rays at a hospital in Budapest on Sunday.
“Ousmane Dembele had an X-ray at the Budapest hospital on Sunday night,” the French federation said in a statement.
“The recovery time is incompatible with him staying in the squad. After discussing with the player and (team doctor) Franck le Gall, (coach) Didier Deschamps has acknowledged that Ousmane Dembele is ruled out for the rest of the tournament.”
Teams can replace injured goalkeepers but not outfield players once they have played their first match in the tournament.
The 24-year-old Dembele’s exit means France coach Didier Deschamps will have only 25 players to choose from for the rest of Euro 2020.
Deschamps still has other attacking options behind starters Antoine Griezmann, Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappe, with Olivier Giroud, Kingsley Coman and Wissam Ben Yedder in the squad.
France lead Group F and will next face Portugal in Budapest on Wednesday.
