Wesley Fofana earns first senior France call-up for Euro 2024 qualifiers
Chelsea‘s Wesley Fofana, Good‘s Khephren Thuram and Lens goalkeeper Brice Samba have all earned their maiden call-ups for the senior France staff for their upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers.
The overwhelmed World Cup finalists will start their bid to make the following continental event towards the Netherlands on March 24 earlier than taking up the Republic of Eire in Group B three days later.
Whereas Didier Deschamps has named a largely recognisable squad from the staff that boarded the airplane to Qatar, Fofana and Thuram have each been rewarded for their spectacular current kind with senior call-ups.
Fofana’s improvement has been persistently disrupted by damage throughout his time at Leicester City and Chelsea, however the 22-year-old has since regained his place in Graham Potter‘s backline.
The 22-year-old, who earned seven caps at Beneath-21 stage, scored the winner in a 1-0 victory over Leeds United on March 4 because the Blues embark on a mini-revival below Potter.
In addition to Fofana, Good lynchpin Thuram – the son of Bleus legend Lilian Thuram – can also be in line for a first senior look after persevering with his breakthrough in Didier Digard‘s Good staff.
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The 21-year-old – a 14-cap France Beneath-21 worldwide – has two objectives and 7 assists from 37 matches within the 2022-23 season, beginning 22 Ligue 1 matches and serving to Les Aiglons go unbeaten of their final 10 top-flight video games.
Thuram has additionally began all seven of Good’s Europa Convention League video games to date this time period, as Digard’s facet go into Thursday’s last-16 second leg towards Sheriff Tiraspol holding a 1-0 benefit.
Lastly, Hugo Lloris‘s retirement has opened up a spot for Samba to power his means into the ranks, with the 28-year-old shining for Ligue 1 podium hopefuls Lens since arriving from Nottingham Forest.
Samba – who by no means earned a cap for France at youth stage – has stored 10 clear sheets in 27 top-flight contests for Les Sang et Or this time period, solely behind Gianluigi Donnarumma (11) and Yehvann Diouf (12).
Samba joins Alphonse Areola and the now-recovered Mike Maignan as Deschamps’s goalkeeping choices, however there are few surprises elsewhere, as Olivier Giroud, Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann all take up locations within the attacking ranks.
Ousmane Dembele misses out resulting from damage, whereas Matteo Guendouzi has additionally been dropped from the squad after taking part in one recreation on the 2022 World Cup.
FRANCE SQUAD IN FULL:
Goalkeepers: Alphonse Areola (West Ham), Mike Maignan (AC Milan), Brice Samba (Lens)
Defenders: Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid), Wesley Fofana (Chelsea), Theo Hernandez (AC Milan), Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool), Jules Kounde (Barcelona), Benjamin Pavard (Bayern Munich), William Saliba (Arsenal), Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich)
Midfielders: Youssouf Fofana (Monaco), Adrien Rabiot (Juventus), Aurélien Tchouameni (Real Madrid), Jordan Veretout (OM), Khéphren Thuram (Good)
Forwards: Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich), Olivier Giroud (AC Milan), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico), Randal Kolo Muani (Frankfurt), Kylian Mbappe (PSG), Marcus Thuram (Mönchengladbach), Moussa Diaby (Leverkusen)
