Didier Deschamps has therefore disclosed his list of players called up for the two League of Nations matches next week: France – Austria on September 22 at the Stade de France and Denmark-France on September 25 in Copenhagen. Obviously, it does not look like a copy-paste of that of the starters for the next World Cup in Qatar (November 20 – December 18). Because the number of absentees for injury prevents any definitive conclusion from being drawn: Presnel Kimpembe, Lucas Hernandez, Ibrahima Konaté, N’Golo Kanté, Paul Pogba, Kingsley Coman and also Karim Benzema. In an ideal world, almost all of these absentees would be potential starters with the Blues.
To compose his group of 23 players, the staff of the France team was forced to make some changes. Didier Deschamps has notably decided to call on three new players: defender Benoit Badiashile (Monaco), midfielder Youssouf Fofana (Monaco) and striker Randal Kolo Muani (Frankfurt).
Also note the return of Ousmane Dembélé, excellent with Barcelona since the start of the season despite the defeat at Bayern Munich (0-2) this week, who is logically summoned to Clairefontaine. Another protagonist of the Spanish championship is back: Eduardo Camavinga, the Real Madrid midfielder, who has not appeared since October 2020, has only three selections (with 1 goal against Ukraine in a friendly) and only one tenure.
In attack, in a now classic game of musical chairs. When Benzema is not there, Olivier Giroud returns. At 35, he continues to make the heyday of AC Milan. And he will try to get a little closer to the goal record in the tricolor jersey held by Thierry Henry (51). The Milanese currently has 48.