FEATURE | Five outside shouts for a place in France’s World Cup squad
FEATURE | Five outside shouts for a place in France’s World Cup squad Didier Deschamps will announce his 26-man squad for this summer’s FIFA World Cup tonight. In what is his final tournament as manager of the national team, Deschamps will look to take France to a third successive World Cup final and go one further than they did back in 2022, when they lost to Argentina on penalties. Speaking earlier this week, Deschamps said that he still had “two or three” decisions to make.
We look at which players could have an outside shot at inclusion. Matthieu Udol (RC Lens) Full-back has been a problem position for France in recent weeks. Whilst academies are providing a high number of elite-level centre-backs, Deschamps has bemoaned an inability to do the same with full-backs.
It is here that France are weakest. Jules Koundé has established himself at right-back, despite an initial reluctance to play the role, although his form with Barcelona has fluctuated more this season than during the last. Les Bleus are light on the ground at left-back, too.
Aston Villa’s Lucas Digne has asserted himself as the No. 1 pick. The Hernández brothers, Lucas and Théo, will both be confident of inclusion, despite the latter’s recent move to Saudi Arabia and despite the former’s lack of game time at Paris Saint-Germain.
RC Lens’ Matthieu Udol should be under consideration, too. Unlike Lucas Hernández, who has played little for PSG this season, Udol has played 37 games in all competitions and is currently on course to have featured in all of Lens’ Ligue 1 fixtures. He has performed, too, registering nine assists and scoring twice across all competitions.
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