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James Maddison was absent from England's final training session ahead of their 2022 FIFA World Cup opener against Iran on 21 November, as per journalist David Ornstein of the Athletic.
The reason for his absence could be a knee injury that he has been nursing ever since linking up with his teammates ahead of the World Cup. Maddison was forced off with a knock in Leicester City's 2-0 win against West Ham United.
He scored the opening goal in the eighth minute, but was taken off 17 minutes later as a precautionary measure. After the game, the former Norwich City playmaker said (h/t the Express):
"I managed to score early and carry on for a little bit after that, but there was soreness, and it was getting a little bit worse as the game was going on because I didn't want it to get worse and we could get someone on who can run at full sprint."
The Leicester City midfielder is among a handful of England players that weren't a sure-shot inclusion in manager Gareth Southgate's squad for the World Cup.
After all, he has been capped just once by the Three Lions at the senior level - in a 7-0 friendly win against Montenegro in November 2019.
Maddison has had an impressive season at a struggling Leicester side. He has scored seven times and assisted four goals in 14 games for the Foxes across competitions this term. Leicester, however, sit 13th in the table after amassing just 17 points in their opening 15 league games.
There was talk of the attacking midfielder playing against Iran, but it is likely that he will miss the game. The Three Lions aren't short of quality options and have players of a similar profile in Mason Mount and Phil Foden.
England expected to win their group
England won't have a lot of trouble in Group B given the quality of the opposition they are drawn with.
They are fancied to beat Iran and the United States of America before a relatively manageable fixture against Wales on matchday three. Anything other than winning their group will be seen as a disappointment by their fans.
The Three Lions made it all the way to the semi-finals of the 2018 edition but faltered against Croatia at the penultimate hurdle. England's aim will be to go at least one step further this time.
Group B winners are scheduled to play against Group A runners-up in the last 16 stage. Senegal and the Netherlands are expected to qualify from that bracket from Group A ahead of Qatar and Ecuador.
