Senegal coach Aliou Cisse has suggested that Sadio Mane may not recover from injury in time to feature in his nation's opening match of the World Cup.
On Tuesday evening, the Bayern Munich forward needed to be withdrawn from a Bundesliga meeting with Werder Bremen with just 20 minutes on the clock.
After the game at the Allianz Arena, head coach Julian Nagelsmann indicated that he did not have major concerns over the severity of the injury sustained by the 30-year-old.
However, reports emerged the following day that Mane had been ruled out of the tournament in Qatar with what was described as a tendon injury.
Despite those claims, Mane was named in the 26-player group that was announced on Friday morning, the suggestion being that the versatile attacker's issue was not as severe as first feared.
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Instead, Cisse has revealed at a press conference that the former Liverpool star is highly likely to miss the first game and the absence could be extended until the end of the month.
Talking to reporters, as quoted by BBC Sport, Cisse said: "We are monitoring the situation around Sadio. We sent a doctor from the FA to him two days ago.
"Yesterday he spent the whole day at Munich and then he travelled to Austria for further exams. The good news: he won't need an operation. We are hoping the situation to evolve in two to three weeks.
"We will do our best to have him back. I don't want to rule him out."
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Senegal have been drawn in a group alongside Netherlands, Ecuador and Qatar, with their first fixture taking place on November 21 against the former.
Their other two matches are scheduled for November 25 and November 29, while any game in the last 16 will be staged on either December 3 or December 4.
Mane is regarded as the key player in the squad having contributed 34 goals from his 92 appearances for the Lions of Teranga since making his debut in 2012.
Three strikes and two assists also came in Senegal's successful Africa Cup of Nations campaign at the start of the year, Mane securing victory with the winning spot kick in a penalty shootout over Egypt in the final.
Darren Plant
