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Soccer-Tunisia's Msakni to miss World Cup due to knee injury

April 9 (Reuters) - Tunisia's Youssef Msakni will miss the World Cup finals after suffering knee ligament damage, his club Al Duhail have said.

The 27-year-old attacker was injured during Al Duhail's 5-2 victory over Al Sailiya in the Qatar Stars League on Saturday.

Tunisia, who are making a return to the World Cup for the first time in 12 years, begin their campaign against England at Volgograd on June 18.

"Msakni will be absent for 3 to 4 months, and with this injury he ends his season with Al Duhail, and also will be absent from the participation with his national team in the World Cup in Russia which will begin in next June," Al Duhail said in a statement.

Msakni, who finished the league season with 25 goals, celebrated the club's sixth title with a post on Instagram.

"Congratulations for the trophy. Sadly this injury has denied me a chance to continue with my club and to play in the World Cup," he wrote.

(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford )