![\"Kylian](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c1_6089205.jpg\")
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKylian Mbappe will be on the plane to North America as part of a glittering French forward line, also featuring Ballon d’Or holder Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue of Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich winger Michael Olise. (Photo: AFP)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
PARIS – Kylian Mbappe will spearhead France at the World Cup after coach Didier Deschamps on Thursday announced his 26-man squad for this summer’s tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.<\/p>\n
Deschamps, who guided France to World Cup glory in 2018 and will leave his role after the 2026 edition, included few surprises.<\/p>\n
“It’s a squad. Not necessarily the 26 best players. It’s about balance and how the team comes together,” Deschamps told French TV channel TF1.<\/p>\n
“The overriding and essential criterion (for selection) is a sporting one,” the 57-year-old later explained to journalists.<\/p>\n
Mbappe will likely captain the team from the get-go despite a thigh injury sustained last month, which caused him to miss key matches in Real Madrid’s La Liga run-in.<\/p>\n
The 27-year-old will be joined on the plane to North America by an array of attacking talent such as Ballon d’Or holder Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue of Paris Saint-Germain, as well as Bayern Munich winger Michael Olise.<\/p>\n
Rayan Cherki will make his World Cup debut.<\/p>\n
The 22-year-old playmaker has enjoyed a sparkling debut season at Manchester City, while his Premier League rival William Saliba of Arsenal will provide defensive solidity for Les Bleus.<\/p>\n
Dayot Upamecano of Bundesliga champions Bayern will be expected to partner Saliba in the heart of the France defence, with Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate and Crystal Palace’s Maxence Lacroix also included.<\/p>\n
Camavinga, Chevalier out<\/p>\n
Full-back Lucas Hernandez and midfielder N’Golo Kante are, alongside Mbappe and Dembele, the sole survivors from Deschamps’ World Cup-winning squad from eight years ago in Russia.<\/p>\n
Lens goalkeeper Robin Risser is the only uncapped player in the squad.<\/p>\n
Notable absentees are Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga and PSG ‘keeper Lucas Chevalier, who has become second choice at the Parc des Princes since his high-profile transfer from Lille last summer.<\/p>\n
“I can imagine how disappointed he (Camavinga) must be,” Deschamps said. “He’s coming off a tough season where he didn’t play as much and suffered injuries. (But) I’ve got decisions to make and a squad to put together.”<\/p>\n
Liverpool striker Hugo Ekitike will also not be a part of the squad after suffering a season-ending Achilles injury in April.<\/p>\n
“It’s been part of my life for 14 years running. But if people are worried, I’m not retiring. I’ll have a life of my own. The World Cup is the most important thing,” Deschamps said of announcing his seventh and final France squad for a major international tournament.<\/p>\n
France will start their Group I campaign against Senegal on June 16, before playing Iraq and Norway.<\/p>\n
Squad<\/p>\n
Goalkeepers: Mike Maignan (AC Milan\/ITA), Robin Risser (Lens), Brice Samba (Rennes)<\/p>\n
Defenders: Lucas Digne (Aston Villa\/ENG), Malo Gusto (Chelsea\/ENG), Lucas Hernandez (Paris Saint-Germain), Theo Hernandez (Al Hilal\/KSA), Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool\/ENG), Maxence Lacroix (Crystal Palace\/ENG), Jules Kounde (Barcelona\/ESP), William Saliba (Arsenal\/ENG), Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich\/GER)<\/p>\n
Midfielders: N’Golo Kante (Fenerbahce\/TUR), Manu Kone (Roma\/ITA), Adrien Rabiot (AC Milan\/ITA), Aurelien Tchouameni (Real Madrid\/ESP), Warren Zaire-Emery (Paris Saint-Germain)<\/p>\n
Forwards: Maghnes Akliouche (Monaco), Bradley Barcola (Paris Saint-Germain), Rayan Cherki (Manchester City\/ENG), Ousmane Dembele (Paris Saint-Germain), Desire Doue (Paris Saint-Germain), Michael Olise (Bayern Munich\/GER), Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid\/ESP), Jean-Philippe Mateta (Crystal Palace\/ENG), Marcus Thuram (Inter Milan\/ITA)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kylian Mbappe will be on the plane to North America as part of a glittering French forward line,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14949,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[612,199,11516,5,11515,192,112,225,696],"class_list":{"0":"post-14948","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-2026-world-cup","9":"tag-didier-deschamps","10":"tag-fifa-world-cup-roster","11":"tag-france","12":"tag-france-world-cup-squad","13":"tag-international-football","14":"tag-kylian-mbappe","15":"tag-les-bleus","16":"tag-ousmane-dembele"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}