Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe has thrown his World Cup chances into serious doubt after dismissal at Portsmouth.

Defoe was condemned by Spurs manager Harry Redknapp for his lunge at Pompey skipper Aaron Mokoena during the win.

He will now miss games against Stoke, Everton in the Carling Cup and Arsenal, leaving him one match - the visit of Sunderland on 7 November - to earn himself a place in Fabio Capello's England squad for the friendly against Brazil in Qatar a week later. The 27-year-old missed the recent qualifiers against Ukraine and Belarus with a hand injury and will be aware that the match in Doha is one of only four friendlies, at most, ahead of the summer's finals.

Yet he faces as awkward a task squeezing his way back into the Spurs line-up for the game against the Wearsiders given just how prolific Robbie Keane and Peter Crouch have also proved this term.