Chelsea youngster Kurt Zouma has been a bit of a revelation this season, and his strong work with the Blues isn't going unnoticed in France. On Thursday, Didier Deschamps announced his 23-man squad to take on Brazil and Denmark, and sure enough, Zouma got the call.
The full squad is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham), Steve Mandanda (Marseille), Stéphane Ruffier (St Etienne)
Defenders: Patrice Evra (Juventus), Christophe Jallet (Lyon), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Bacary Sagna (Manchester City), Mamadou Sakho (Liverpool), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid), Benoît Trémoulinas (Sevilla FC), Kurt Zouma (Chelsea)
Midfielders: Maxime Gonalons (Lyon), Geoffrey Kondogbia (Monaco), Blaise Matuidi (PSG), Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle ), Morgan Schneiderlin (Southampton), Dimitri Payet (Marseille)
Forwards: Mathieu Valbuena (Dynamo Moscow), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Alexandre Lacazette (Lyon), Nabil Fekir (Lyon), Olivier Giroud (Arsenal)
It's well deserved recognition for Zouma, and is likely the first of many call-ups in a deep and talented French defense*. Congratulations, Kurt.
*Zouma did make an earlier squad as an injury replacement, but was not capped