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France revealed a 23-man squad - Alexandre Lacazette and Anthony Martial left out of the squad

by Rob Williams,

  • France announced a 23-man squad
  • Alexandre Lacazette and Anthony Martial named on France’s reserve list
  • Olivier Giroud included in the 23-man squad alongside Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe

France has revealed a 23-man squad for 2018 World Cup, Russia. The squad included few surprises as well as most notable players like Anthony Martial and Alexandre Lacazette missing the game.

Anthony Martial and Alexandre Lacazette, have been left off the squad, with Didier Deschamps naming both on the reserve list.

The French head coach had an embarra s sment of riches to choose from in the forward positions and found no room for the two Premier League stars, who have struggled with form and fitness at times this season.

Chelsea professional striker Oliver Giroud alongside Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Nabil Fekir, Thomas Lemar, Antoine Griezmann and Florian Thauvin has been selected as the final 23-man squad.

Martial will surely be disappointed at his omission but the forward suffered a dip in form at Manchester towards the season’s end. Martial has been in and out of Jose Mourinho's team and has not scored or a s sisted a goal since February.

The news may have shocked Arsenal striker Lacazette, as he was in good form for the Gunners in latter of the season, scoring five and a s sisting one goal in his last six league appearances.

However, Deschamps has selected Griezmann, a diminutive speedster, and Giroud, a tall target man to lead the line for France in the summer games.

Meanwhile, the French coach has shown a lot of faith in Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy, picking the left back despite a knee injury spent in the vast majority of the season on the sidelines.

Three Premier League players completed the French squad while Kurt Zouma (Chelsea), Mamadou Sakho (Crystal Palace) and Moussa Sissoko (Tottenham) were named on the reserve list.

It was also a bad news for former West Ham star Dimitri Payet, who was excluded from the list entirely after suffering a thigh injury in Wednesday’s Europa League final.

The midfielder left the pitch in tears after half an hour and was later seen in tears again as Atletico lifted the trophy following a 3-0 win.

Here's what you've all been waiting for: our 23-man squad for the 2018 @FIFAWorldCup#FiersdetreBleus pic.twitter.com/QEuCyMnblb

— French Team (@FrenchTeam) May 17, 2018

France is among the fans favorites in the history of World Cup. France will be playing the group stage matches against Australia, Denmark, and Peru.

France 23-man squad list

S.N.

PLAYER

CLUB

AGE

1

Hugo Lloris

Tottenham

32

2

Steve Mandanda

Marseille

31

3

Alphonse Areola

PSG

25

4

Layvin Kurzawa

PSG

25

6

Benjamin Mendy

Manchester City

23

7

Samuel Umtiti

Barcelona

24

8

Raphaël Varane

PSG

24

9

Lucas Hernandez

Atletico Madrid

22

10

Benjamin Pavard

Stuttgard

22

11

Adil Rami

Marseille

32

12

Djibril Sidibé

Monaco

25

13

Thomas Lemar

Monaco

22

14

Blaise Matuidi

Juventus

30

15

C. Tolisso

Bayern Munich

22

16

Paul Pogba

Manchester United

24

17

N’Golo Kanté

Chelsea

26

18

Ousman Dembele

Barcelona

21

19

S. Nzonzi

Sevilla

27

20

Antoine Griezmann

Atletico Madrid

26

21

Kylian Mbappé

PSG

19

22

Nabil Fakir

Lyon

24

23

Olivier Giroud

Arsenal

31

Reserves

Ben Yedder, Coman, Costil, Debuchy, Digne, Lacazette, Martial, Rabiot, Sakho, Sissoko, Zouma.