Erling Haaland has been ruled out of the Norway squad for Thursday’s friendly clash with Ireland.
The Manchester City striker was going to be the visitor’s star attraction at Aviva Stadium.
But the Norwegian FA confirmed his withdrawal tonight, although left the door open to Haaland playing against Finland on Sunday.
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Haaland, who played in City’s shock 2-1 home defeat to Brentford yesterday, has been nursing a foot injury since the end of October.
Earlier this week, City boss Pep Guardiola had warned that Haaland’s injury was ‘not perfect’.
Guardiola had said: “He's not perfect still, but he's getting better.
“The important thing is that the bone is not broken, it's not damaged. It's just the ligaments that are damaged a little bit.
"It's not perfect right now but in a week or ten days, everything can change.”
Haaland has made a remarkable impact on the Premier League, smashing an eye-watering 24 goals in 20 club appearances so far this season.
Norway's Jacob Karlstrem is also ruled out of the Ireland game, along with Kristian Thorstvedt who has a broken toe.
Mads Hedenstad Christiansen and Sivert Heggheim Mannsverk have been called up for the Aviva Stadium clash.
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