After Wesley Fofana, Ousmane Dembélé was forced to withdraw on Monday from the French team’s next two Nations League matches.
The two players are replaced by two big regulars from the Blues, namely Benjamin Pavard and Kingsley Coman.
As in September, the tiles are piling up for the France team. While they must face Israel (November 14 at 8:45 p.m., live on TF1 and live commentary on TF1Info) and Italy (November 17 at 8:45 p.m., live on TF1 and live commentary on TF1Info) in the next days, the Blues are deprived of several key elements.
In addition to the new notable absence of captain Kylian Mbappé, two players were forced to throw in the towel on Monday November 11. Wesley Fofana (23 years old, 1 selection) is absent from the gathering due to a “pain in one knee”. The former Stéphanois, who missed all of last season due to a ruptured cruciate ligament, is retained by his club Chelsea, who do not wish to take any risks. He is replaced by Benjamin Pavard (28 years old, 54 caps), back in blue for the first time since Euro 2024.
For his part, Ousmane Dembélé (27 years old, 51 caps) is “hit the right ischio”indicates the tricolor frame. He would have “felt pain” last Saturday, during the match against Angers. The Parisian winger came to the Clairefontaine National Football Center on Monday to have his injury noted by doctor Franck Le Gall and to speak with the coach. Finally going the opposite way, he is replaced by Kingsley Coman (28 years old, 57 caps). The Bavarian is therefore making his comeback to the national team, his last selection dating back to the match against the Netherlands (0-0), during the last Euro.
-
Read also
France-Israel: the Paris police chief unveils his “XXL device” for this “high-risk match”
Didier Deschamps’ players currently occupy second place in Group 2 of the Nations League. With nine points, they are five lengths ahead of the Belgians (4 points), their first pursuers. They are therefore ideally positioned to qualify for the quarter-finals of the competition, reserved for the first two teams in each group. Better still, they only need one point to validate their ticket for this final phase.
Belgium
