His exit from the field, in tears, on October 22 against Chelsea, had raised fears of the worst. Some imagined, then, Raphaël Varane let go by his body and forced, after N’Golo Kanté and Paul Pogba, to give up in turn at the World Cup (November 20 – December 18). This catastrophic scenario will very likely remain in the cards. The Blues and Manchester United defender is on track to be restored to global competition. Consequently, his presence in the list disclosed this Wednesday by Didier Deschamps is, according to our information, possible.
The tricolor vice-captain had given, about ten days ago, reassuring news on social networks from the Clairefontaine training center, equipped with a federal medical center. “I trained hard and I feel much better,” he wrote on Instagram, in the caption of photos and videos showing him in full physical exercise sessions (stationary bike, swimming pool, bodybuilding, stretching).
The following days came to corroborate this positive trend. Returned to Manchester to follow his re-athletic program, the player has even resumed running on the treadmill, but not yet training. His participation in the Premier League match against Fulham on November 13 is therefore not on the agenda. “He will not be 100% and it would therefore be taking a relatively useless risk given the challenge behind, we say in the entourage of the Mancunian club. But his progress is considered satisfactory. He is progressing well. The lights are green, even if you still have to be careful and see how your thigh will react with the upcoming increase in workloads. “With all this data, the staff of the Blues, in conjunction with his Mancunian counterpart, should validate his presence for the World Cup.
In addition to being cured, Didier Deschamps had explained that he would not retain “a player who is not able to play at the start of the competition”. Away from the field for a month, Varane (87 selections) seems able, at this stage, to tick these boxes. He could, however, lack rhythm against Australia on November 22. Be that as it may, if he embarks on November 16 for Doha, the player will be the subject of very special monitoring by the medical staff of the Blues. With this type of injury, things are indeed likely to change from one day to the next.
For the record, the final list of players (between 23 and 26 including three goalkeepers) must be submitted to FIFA before November 14 at 7 p.m. According to article 24 of the FIFA regulations, a player on the final list can only be replaced in the event of “serious illness or injury no later than 24 hours before the kick-off of his team’s first match. Concretely, if one of the French players were to withdraw from the World Cup, Deschamps would have until November 21, the day before France-Australia, to formalize his replacement. Which does not necessarily have to be part of the provisional list of 55 names in possession of Fifa since October 21, 2022.