Pogba’s World Cup place in doubt amid scandal and bad knee

By JEROME PUGMIRE
AP Sports Writer

PARIS (AP) — Paul Pogba’s knee injury could save France coach Didier Deschamps from having to make a painful choice. For the midfielder’s fitness could prove to be the determining factor in deciding whether he plays at the World Cup, amid an extortion scandal that threatens to disrupt France’s preparations for the tournament in Qatar. What would otherwise have been an injury headache for Deschamps may give him an escape from the potential migraine of another scandal to hit Les Bleus, seven years after the last one. For defending champion France can ill afford a campaign where two of its biggest stars — Pogba and Kylian Mbappe — are embroiled in controversy.