It is always a very solemn and awaited moment. Didier Deschamps will unveil, Wednesday, November 9, in the 8 p.m. newspaper of TF1, his list of players selected for the World Cup in Qatar, organized from November 20 to December 18.
After two withdrawals (Kanté and Pogba) and faced with many uncertainties, will the coach change his habits? Among the 26 players selected, will he call any last-minute surprises? Will he trust the hard core of Euro 2021 despite being eliminated in the round of 16? Franceinfo: sport has deciphered for you the choices made by Didier Deschamps during his four international competitions at the head of the Blues (World 2014, Euro 2016, World 2018 and Euro 2021).
A moderate renewal between each competition
The first data analyzed concerns the number of players present during the previous international competition. When we look at the figures, we see that Didier Deschamps still retains a hard core between two competitions with at least nine players renewed each time. Even in 2014 when, for his first tournament at the head of the France team, he retained ten players selected by his predecessor, Laurent Blanc, at Euro 2012.
For Euro 2021, the tricolor coach had called no less than fourteen world champion players three years earlier. The result had however not been as convincing since the Blues were eliminated in the round of 16 by Switzerland. A figure that is close to the thirteen selected for Euro 2016, already traveling to the 2014 World Cup.
Few last minute surprises
Difficult to do more regularly than Didier Deschamps in this area. The coach is not a big fan of last minute surprises since his list almost always resembles the last concocted for the preparation matches (usually in March). Except for a few things. The most recent surprise concerns Karim Benzema, recalled to Euro 2021 for the first time since 2015.
Otherwise, the players present in the final list, but absent in March, often replaced the injured. Thus, in 2014, Morgan Schneiderlin and Rémy Cabella had compensated for the package of Franck Ribéry and Clément Grenier. Ditto in 2016 when Schneiderlin, Adil Rami and Samuel Umtiti replaced Raphaël Varane, Jérémy Mathieu and Lassana Diarra, while Eliaquim Mangala took the place of Mamadou Sakho, suspended by UEFA for doping (before being cleared).
A not prohibitive lack of international experience
Who said experience was everything? During the world title in 2018, Didier Deschamps had selected thirteen players who were playing their first international competition. Among these novices, Kylian Mbappé, Lucas Hernandez, Presnel Kimpembe or even Benjamin Pavard have become key men for the captain of the 1998 world champions.
In 2014, there were already eleven of them who had never played in international competitions, including Antoine Griezmann, Raphaël Varane or Paul Pogba, still important eight years later when they are fit. Finally, during Euro 2016, “DD” had chosen seven novices including two (Samuel Umtiti and Benoît Costil) who had no selection. A record during his tenure. Alphonse Aréola was the only unselected player before the 2018 World Cup, just like Jules Koundé before Euro 2021.