France captain Antoine Dupont suffered a fractured cheekbone in Thursday’s 96-0 win against Namibia, the French Rugby Federation has confirmed.

A head-on-head tackle by Johan Deysel led to the dismissal of the world player of the year 2021 in the 46th minute.

According to the FFR, Dupont will remain with the squad and will see a specialist to determine the length of his injury.

The final pool match for France is against Italy on 6 October.

There will be a quarter-final on the weekend of 14-15 October, a semi-final the following weekend, and a final on Saturday, 28 October.

The FFR reported that Antoine Dupont has suffered a maxillo-zygomatic fracture. A surgical opinion has been sought to determine how long the player will be unavailable, and Dupont remains with the French squad.

France’s chances of winning the World Cup for the first time would be severely damaged if Dupont were to depart.

In addition to being named world player of the year, he was also voted Six Nations player of the tournament in 2022 and 2023.

During his tenure as captain of France, he has also gone unbeaten in 14 home Tests.

Having beaten three-time champions New Zealand in the tournament’s opening game, Dupont was among 12 players rested for France’s second victory over Uruguay.

Prior to his collision with Deysel, he helped the hosts to a 54-0 lead against Namibia in Marseille.

Following a television match official’s review, the yellow card was upgraded to a red for Namibia’s captain.