James Maddison suffers injury in final game before World Cup

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James Maddison suffers injury in final game before World Cup

James Maddison had to be replaced just 24 minutes into Leicester’s Premier League clash with West Ham on Saturday, potentially putting his World Cup place in jeopardy only three days before England are due to fly out to Qatar.

Maddison opened the scoring for the Foxes in east London, continuing the excellent run of form that saw him recently earn his first international call-up since 2019 when Gareth Southgate named his final 26-player squad for the World Cup.

But midway through the first half against West Ham, a suspected hamstring injury forced him out of the game, with Dennis Praet coming on in his place.

There had been a huge clamour for Maddison to be included in the England squad. There were rumours ahead of the final announcement that he was expecting to miss the cut, but the list confirmed by Southgate, who gave the player his senior international debut three years ago, included his name alongside the likes of Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling.

Leicester and England fans will now nervously await further news on his condition, with even a relatively minor injury potentially enough to cruelly torpedo his World Cup given how tight the turnaround is before the tournament kicks off.