No Olivier Giroud, but a new kid with Boubacar Kamara. Didier Deschamps announced, Thursday, May 19, from the headquarters of the French Football Federation (FFF), his list of 24 players for the next meetings of the France team in June, with four matches on the program in the Ligue des nations (Denmark, Croatia twice, Austria), of which France is defending champion.
Far from innovating like last March, when he selected three novices (Jonathan Clauss, William Saliba, Christopher Nkunku), the coach of the Blues has done in continuity, with all the same some surprises for the upcoming matches against Croatia , Denmark and Austria.
While there are only six games left to play for the French team before the start of the World Cup in Qatar (November 21-December 18), Didier Deschamps knows that he will already be preparing for the 2022 World Cup. in upcoming matches. The coach therefore limited the surprises, with Boubacar Kamara, the midfielder of Olympique de Marseille.
Kamara, who was close to playing for the Senegalese selection, completes the midfielder of the Blues in the absence of Paul Pogba, injured for more than a month and package for the next four games of the Blues. “Pogba is still in the recovery phase“, explained Deschamps. Another major absentee: Olivier Giroud. The striker with 48 goals in the France team had returned to the Blues during the last rally and scored two goals in the two friendlies against Côte d’Ivoire and South Africa.
Deschamps has decided to do without him, in particular due to the return to the group of Karim Benzema, package at the last meeting. “I want to offer the possibility to other attacking players who are very successful with their clubs, who have had less playing time [avec les Bleus]to get tougher and have more playing time“, underlined Deschamps by evoking the Diaby, Ben Yedder and Nkunku.
Here is the list of Blues called for the next matches with a 1st call for @boubaKamara_4
The calendar of this big gathering
June 03: vs.
June 06: vs.
June 10: vs.
June 13: vs. #ProudToBeBlues pic.twitter.com/ubGPL3Uo8n– French team (@equipedefrance) May 19, 2022
Christopher Nkunku, voted best player in the Bundesliga at the start of the week, is present after his first two caps in March, as is Jonathan Clauss. William Saliba is also in the group, despite the return of Benjamin Pavard.
Some players, such as Ibrahima Konaté (Liverpool), Martin Terrier (Stade Rennes), Ousmane Dembélé (FC Barcelona) or even Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich) could have joined the Blues group for these four upcoming matches, against Denmark (the June 3), Croatia (June 6 and 13) and Austria (June 10).
They will have to wait before returning to the Blues, or discovering them. In the meantime, the 24 players selected by Deschamps will meet at Clairefontaine on May 28 at midday, before a first match at the Stade de France against Denmark on Friday June 3.
Guardians : Hugo Lloris (Tottenham), Mike Maignan (AC Milan), Alphonse Areola (West Ham).
Defenders : Raphaël Varane (Manchester United), Presnel Kimpembe (Paris Saint-Germain), Lucas Hernandez, Benjamin Pavard (Bayern Munich), Jules Koundé (Sevilla FC), Theo Hernandez (AC Milan), Lucas Digne (Aston Villa), Jonathan Clauss (RC Lens), William Saliba (Olympique de Marseille).
Environments : Aurélien Tchouaméni (AS Monaco), N’Golo Kanté (Chelsea), Adrien Rabiot (Juventus of Turin), Mattéo Guendouzi, Boubacar Kamara (Olympique de Marseille).
Attackers : Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain), Antoine Griezmann (Atlético de Madrid), Moussa Diaby (Bayer Leverkusen), Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig), Wissam Ben Yedder (AS Monaco), Kingsley Coman ( Bayern Munich).