Kante, Giroud called up as France look to continue world football domination

Not only did France win their second World Cup this summer, but they did so with a very young squad. Unlike most of the other big teams, who are looking to rebuild, Didier Deschamps has a proven squad to call upon, and with plenty of young and promising talent waiting in the wings for their chance. For now, Les Bleus have made just one change from their World Cup squad for the first round of UEFA Nations League friendlies, and that at backup goalkeeper with Benoit Costil replacing Steve Mandanda.

Chelsea’s N’Golo Kanté and Olivier Giroud, both key players at the World Cup, will continue to be key players are France take on Germany (Sep 6) and the Netherlands (Sep 9) in the next two weeks.

France’s full squad is as follows:

GOALKEEPERS: Alphonse Areola (Paris Saint-Germain), Benoit Costil (Bordeaux), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur);

DEFENDERS: Lucas Hernandez (Atletico Madrid), Benjamin Pavard (Stuttgart), Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona), Presnel Kimpembe (Paris Saint-Germain), Adil Rami (Marseille), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid), Benjamin Mendy (Manchester City), Djibril Sidibe (Monaco);

MIDFIELDERS: N’Golo Kanté (Chelsea), Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Blaise Matuidi (Juventus), Corentin Tolisso (Lyon), Steven Nzonzi (Roma);

FORWARDS: Ousmane Dembélé (Barcelona), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Florian Thauvin (Marseille), Nabil Fekir (Lyon), Olivier Giroud (Chelsea), Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain), Thomas Lemar (Monaco).