World Cup 2022 LIVE: Christopher Nkunku out of France squad through injury

The Qatar World Cup is nearly upon us, and that means an array of delightful/grotesque international football shirts for us to enjoy/convulse over.

What do we think of Portugal’s bold diagonal stripe? Who has picked a mesmerising shade of red? Why have Argentina dressed like they need 144 off 20 overs? Is that… is that Jafar? Please do share your opinions in the comments below.

Here are the World Cup 2022 kits, ranked and rated from worst to best:

After the injury blow to Christophere Nkunku, Didier Deschamps has moved quickly to call up the Leipzig forward’s replacement.

Randal Kolo Muani is in, with the Eintracht Frankfurt star scoring eight goals this season.

With Karim Benzema struggling to be ready for the group stages, France are lacking a cutting edge up top.

The Dutch face Senegal in their opening group match on Monday but Van Dijk does not expect to see Mane, who left Anfield for Bayern Munich in the summer, lining up against him as the forward is doubtful with an injury to his right fibula.

Van Dijk knows all about missing major tournaments with injury as a torn anterior cruciate ligament ruled him out of the Covid-delayed Euro 2020.

Wilson has hit six goals in 11 Premier League starts for Newcastle this season, with Eddie Howe’s Magpies sitting third in the table heading into the break for the first winter World Cup.

Asked about his first England involvement since November 2019, he replied: “Life is all about timing. I have had three years away…now going into the World Cup there’s great opportunities there in front of us as players to go and make history. For us, that’s the drive and motivation.

Nick Pope admits he did not dream of going to a World Cup as a child because he never believed he was good enough.

Now he is heading for the second of his career in the form of his life and hoping to play a part in ending England’s quest for another major honour.

The 30-year-old Newcastle United goalkeeper travelled to Russia four years ago as Gareth Southgate’s number three, but while Jordan Pickford seemingly remains the man in possession, Pope’s contribution to his club’s unlikely surge into the Premier League’s upper reaches has simply enhanced his reputation.

Over the last few months, Gareth Southgate has been immersing himself in more information than any England manager has ever had going into a World Cup. The breadth is remarkable. Zooming out, there are all of the models and handbooks, that basically distill thousands of minutes of football to tell managers “how World Cups are won”. Zooming in, there are all the individual analyses of each team.

Some elements stand out across so much information. One is that virtually every side at this World Cup counter-presses.

“It’s become a common trend across all teams,” says Dr David Adams, the Welsh FA’s Chief Football Officer. “Even the lower-ranked teams don’t just drop into a defensive block when they lose the ball any more. That’s an idea, from Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp, that has gone across all of the football ecosystem.”

Saman Ghoddos visibly considers his words, but he has clearly thought about what he is going to say. The Brentford forward does not want to stay silent on an issue of such importance. The stakes for Ghoddos, however, are much greater than just offering a statement on Qatar’s issues in the way most other World Cup players might.

The 29-year-old knows he is going to be asked about the political strife in Iran, where the state security forces have killed hundreds in shutting down nationwide protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, who was beaten in police custody after allegedly breaking rules on mandatory head coverings. He has agreed to an interview because of it, though, and shows considerable courage with his comments.

“Everybody wants to see a change,” Ghoddos says. “It’s a change that is very easy. What the people want is nothing special. It’s just freedom and I don’t want to say ‘Yeah, go fight for it’ because I don’t think violence is the right way. But something has to change and this has been going on for too long.”

Having finished runners-up at last summer’s European Championship on the back of reaching the semi-finals in Russia four years ago, the Three Lions are among the favourites to triumph in the Middle East.

Southgate’s 26-man squad linked up at St George’s Park on Monday fresh from the Premier League pausing and followed a whirlwind day of duties by jetting off to Qatar on Tuesday.

France forward Christopher Nkunku is out of the World Cup following a leg injury during training on Tuesday.

The Leipzig star, 25, was poised to break out as one of the stars of the tournament, having arrived as the Bundesliga’s top scorer with 12 goals in 15 games for RB Leipzig.

But after a challenge with Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, Nkunku will depart Les Bleus, who are yet to announce a replacement.

The French squad will fly to Qatar on Wednesday and take on Australia in their first Group D match.