The Blues are launching their qualification campaign for the 2026 World Cup this Friday at 8:45 p.m. against Ukraine. A relocated match in Wroclaw, west of Poland, due to the armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
For this first draft for the World Cup, Didier Deschamps must deal with the absences of William Saliba and Rayan Cherki who had to give up before the start of the rally. Ousmane Dembélé, who recalls a thigh injury contracted last weekend against Toulouse (6-3), will not start either.
The trend is to maintain a system in 4-2-3-1 already used during the previous meetings with Michael Olise in the position of playmaker. During the traditional opposition organized on the eve of the meeting, the Bavarian was placed as number 10 with Bradley Barcola on the left wing, Kylian Mbappé in point and Désiré Doué who should therefore be preferred to Maghnes Akliouche Tricolor.
In the midfield, Manu Koné would be associated with Aurélien Tchouaméni at the expense of Adrien Rabiot who has known hectic days on the emotional level on the fringes of his transfer from OM to AC Milan.
The AS Roma player “is one of the undercotiated or undervalued players, dixit Deschamps who sees him” a big potential “. For the rest, do not expect big surprises. From right to left, defense will logically be made up of Koundé, Konaté, Upamecano and Digne.
The likely composition of the Blues: Maignan – Koundé, Konaté, Upamecano, Digne – Tchouameni, Koné – Doué, Olise, Barcola – Mbappé (cap.)
