We do not know how many will be at the Israel-France kick-off next Thursday in Budapest. Just that there won’t be many of them. The 2018 world champions are seriously starting to become rare. Didier Deschamps lost one more with the international retirement of Antoine Griezmann, announced last Monday by the man with 137 caps for the Blues. He is a historic member of the French selection, brilliant during the Russian campaign, who bowed out with the selection. One more.
How many will remain in the list that the coach will announce this Thursday for the Nations League matches against Israel (October 10) and Belgium (October 14)? Maybe two, if Kylian Mbappé has actually recovered from a muscle injury which made him uncertain for this rally. If the Madrilenian responds, he would be the other survivor of the starting lineup for the 2018 World Cup final against Croatia (4-2) with N’Golo Kanté, who returned to the Blues to everyone’s surprise just before the Euro . There will perhaps be a third if Deschamps chooses to summon Benjamin Pavard, absent from the September gathering.
Always fewer historical frames
But it would stop there, since Lucas Hernandez, who has remained a regular in the selection since the Russian coronation, is still in the infirmary. Alphonse Areola and Ousmane Dembélé were also in the list of 23 for the World Cup in Russia. There will perhaps also be Florian Thauvin. His brilliant start to the season with Udinese allowed him to obtain a pre-call-up for the French team, which he has not been with since 2019. But none of these three players can claim the status of historic executive of the Blues.
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Of those, there really aren’t many “selectable” ones left. Hugo Lloris had already retired from the international scene, just like his understudy Steve Mandanda. Blaise Matuidi and now Raphaël Varane are retired. Samuel Umtiti, still under contract at Lille, is still waiting to start his season after having undergone a new knee operation, and has not been called up for the Blues since 2019. Finally, Paul Pogba was suspended for four years last February after violating anti-doping rules.
Kanté, the symbolic case
At the Euro, there were already only five influential members of the 2018 world title (Pavard, Kanté, Griezmann, Giroud and Mbappé). There were only four left at the end of the tournament, with the international retirement of the emblematic Olivier Giroud. That of Griezmann leaves the coach without another talisman of the France team, perhaps the most impactful of his mandate, perhaps the most symbolic of his greatest successes since he was inducted onto the French bench in 2012.
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In this sense, this October list is certainly the one that most resembles the “after list” for Deschamps. The one which definitively marks the end of an era as its vestiges become invisible. Its symbols are increasingly rare. He still has his captain, Kylian Mbappé, more than ever a leading figure of these Blues. And Kanté, symbolically again becoming an executive of the French group since the Euro after having been absent for two years. As if Deschamps had felt the urgent need to find his bearings.
The need to see leaders emerge
Because he has always needed his basic men, his faithful relays in a relationship built over time. Deschamps has never seemed so alone from this point of view now. Rebuilding is a strange challenge after 12 years spent at the head of the France team. But it is the one he must face from now on. The process was already underway. Mike Maignan is gaining influence in the group and his outing in the locker room on the sidelines of the match against Italy goes in this direction. William Saliba will probably become more important in the locker room. In any case, other leaders will have to emerge.
This is certainly what we will remember from this October list, the first since the shock caused by Griezmann’s international retirement. It will have a usual side, with its share of possible returns. Those of Kingsley Coman, Christopher Nkunku and therefore Thauvin are mentioned. And perhaps his novices, like the Monegasque Maghnes Akliouche. But upon reading it, it is likely to be marked by the lack of frameworks and the guarantees that go with them. Everything that Griezmann could embody for the Blues beyond his talent.
