Christopher Nkunku and Ousmane Dembele are back in the France squad called up by coach Didier Deschamps on Wednesday to take on Gibraltar and Greece in the 2024 European Cup qualifiers on June 16 and 19.
Real Madrid’s Spanish full-back Ferland Mendy also returned to the World Cup runner-up squad.
Nkunku, the top scorer in the Bundesliga this season with Leipzig (16 goals partnered with Werder striker Niklas Volkrug), was out of his country ahead of the start of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar due to injury and also missed the blue team’s previous training camp in March last year.
As for Dembélé, the Barcelona striker, an injury also kept him out three months ago when France kicked off their continental qualifying campaign with two wins over the Netherlands 4-0 and Ireland 1-0.
For his part, Mendy returns for the first time since September 25, 2022, after a match in which his country lost 0-2 to Denmark.
Deschamps included veteran Olivier Giroud (36), the all-time leading scorer (53), and Marcus Thuram in attack, but continued to exclude Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette despite the end of a successful season for the player. who has not worn the colors of France since November 14, 2017.
France will play Gibraltar on June 16 in Faro, Portugal before hosting Greece at the Stade de France on June 19.
Here is France’s squad for these two matches:
Goalkeepers: Alphonse Areola (West Ham, England), Mike Mignan (Milan, Italy), Brice Samba (Lance).
Defensively: Axel Dizzy (Monaco), Wesley Fofana (Chelsea, England), Theo Hernandez (Milan, Italy), Ibrahima Conate (Liverpool, England), Jules Conde (Barcelona, Spain) , Benjamin Pavard and Dayo Obamecano (Bavaria, Germany), Ferland Mendy (Real Madrid, Spain).
Midfielders: Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Choameni (Real Madrid), Youssef Fofana (Monaco), Adrien Rabiot (Juventus, Italy), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid, Spain).
Attack: Kingsley Coman (Bayern, Germany), Olivier Giroud (Milan, Italy), Randall Colo Moani (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain), Marcus Thuram ( Borussia Mönchengladbach, Germany), Osman Dembele. (Barcelona, Spain), Christopher Nkunku (Leipzig, Germany).
Source: agencies
