No one should be made aware of the list of 26 players selected for the 2022 World Cup. For the whole of France, it will be necessary to wait for the 8 p.m. of TF1, this Wednesday evening, presented by Gilles Bouleau to see Didier Deschamps announce one by one , as usual, the name of the 26 Blues leaving for Qatar. Rolled in since 2010, the protocol for announcing the “20 hours” of TF1 of the list of Blues is very secure. The people in the know within the channel before the announcement on the air can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
This precious list should be sent on a USB key around 6/6:30 p.m. by a delegation from the French Football Federation to Yoann Saillon, artistic director (DA) of TF1’s 8 p.m. The DA, in the company of a single graphic designer and the FFF delegation, will then lock himself in a closed and secure graphic room where telephones are prohibited. The objective, for the staff of the Blues, is to inform as few people as possible to limit information leaks.
This team will therefore then have a little less than two hours to image the faces of the 26 selected players. A list of around 50 potential selected players (given by Didier Deschamps to FIFA last month) had already been drawn up by the channel to facilitate preparations. Also present in the graphics room, the FFF’s social media, website and video teams carry out the same work to unveil the list at the moment “t” on their own media.
Presentation of the list at 8:20 p.m.
Coach Didier Deschamps, accompanied by three assistants Guy Stéphan, Cyril Moine and Franck Raviot, will then arrive a little before 7 p.m. at the TF1 premises to prepare in the dressing rooms. The principal concerned should meet Gilles Bouleau to announce the names of the players to him before the news and draw the outlines of the interview.
The announcement of the list should not take place at the beginning, but in the middle of the newspaper around 8:20 p.m. As announced in our columns, the coach of the Blues should announce an expanded list of 26 players, consisting of three goalkeepers, nine to ten defenders, five or six midfielders, and seven attackers. Didier Deschamps should state the selected names line by line and in alphabetical order. The announcement of the list followed by an interview with the coach should last until 8:40 p.m. Twenty minutes during which Aurélien Tchouaméni, Real Madrid midfielder, should also be in duplex from Madrid.
A press conference can then take place at the end of the newspaper in the auditorium of the TF1 tower. The official list must then be shared with Fifa before November 14 at 7 p.m. In case of injury (s), it will always be possible to modify it until the day before the first match against Australia on November 22.