Didier Deschamps will reveal, this Wednesday evening at 8 p.m. on TF1, his list of players selected to compete in the World Cup in Qatar (November 20 – December 18), where the French team, defending champion, will seek to sew a third star on his jersey. The coach did not specify the number of players he would call. But FIFA has adjusted its rules for the competition. “Each member association must provide FIFA, within the deadlines set by the relevant circular, with a final list comprising 23 to 26 players (including three goalkeepers). »
Faced with the uncertainty still escorting several internationals (Varane, Maignan, Kimpembe), the group announced on Wednesday will not necessarily be set in stone. It is reasonable to think that these three men will be in the first list, this Wednesday. The staff would leave until the Clairefontaine rally on November 14 to decide as they see fit with regard to the developments observed and the clinical elements collected in the meantime.
Between 23 and 26 players
The final list (between 23 and 26 players including three goalkeepers) must be submitted to FIFA before that same day at 7 p.m. According to article 24, paragraph 3 of the FIFA regulations, a player on the final list, published on November 15, 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 game. Concretely, if one or more French players were to give up, Deschamps would therefore have until November 21, the day before France-Australia, to formalize their replacement(s). Which does not necessarily have to be part of the provisional list of 55 names in possession of FIFA for a few weeks already.
For the record, FIFA had, in fact, asked all the nations qualified for the World Cup to send it an initial list made up of 35 or 55 players (including at least four goalkeepers). Each nation also had to communicate a provisional list of a maximum of 70 officials, specifying the role of each. These two lists have not been made public. The complete list of players and officials was printed and signed by the President and the Secretary General of the FFF before being sent by email to FIFA before October 24.
In addition to being cured, Didier Deschamps had explained that he would not retain “a player who is not able to play the start of the competition” During the 2014 World Cup, the Basque technician had already had to adjust his list of the 23, revealed on May 13, according to defections. He had to first replace Steve Mandanda, seriously affected before the start of the preparation, by Stéphane Ruffier. Clément Grenier and Franck Ribéry then had to throw in the towel, in turn injured, on June 6, 9 days before the entry into the running of the Blues against Honduras, Rémy Cabella and Morgan Schneiderlin, present in a list of 7 substitutes, being then called.
