France have announced their 25-man squad for the World Cup, perhaps the strongest in the world in terms of depth.
Didier Deschamps elected to take six players from La Liga with him; three from Real Madrid, two from Barcelona and one from Atletico Madrid.
Los Blancos will wave goodbye to Aurelien Tchouameni and Karim Benzema, despite the latter’s injury issues, while there is also a spot for young starlet Eduardo Camavinga. Antoine Griezmann will also fly out of Madrid, with the expectation he will be a starter in Qatar.
France World Cup list 🚨🇫🇷
▫️ Areola, Lloris, Mandanda;
▫️ L. Hernandez, Theo Hernandez, Kimpembe, Koundé. Konaté, Pavard, Saliba, Upamecano, Varane;
▫️ Camavinga, Fofana, Guendouzi, Rabiot, Tchouaméni, Veretout;
▫️ Benzema, Coman, Dembélé, Giroud, Griezmann, Mbappé, Nkunku. pic.twitter.com/43Q2FLJf0l
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) November 9, 2022
From Barcelona, the mercurial Ousmane Dembele and Jules Kounde will join Deschamps squad.
Real Betis’ Nabil Fekir missed out as expected, but so did Real Madrid’s Ferland Mendy. Deschamps shift to a back three or five seems to have left Mendy without a clear place in the side. Theo Hernandez will likely occupy that role, although there is no clear other left wing-back in the squad.
Image via Daniel Mihailescu – Pool/Getty Images
Mendy hasnt impressed on me lately. Makes sense.
Wow