The France national team will be heading into the 2022 FIFA World Cup as the defending champions. On Wednesday, France national team manager Didier Deschamps announced the squad that will attempt to go back-to-back.
Deschamps picked two players from the current Paris Saint-Germain team, but the French giants have an influence on the squad, considering there are players who came up through their youth academy.
First, the obvious choice for Deschamps was select Kylian Mbappe, who is having an excellent season for PSG after extending his contract with his hometown club. The 23-year-old has 18 goals and five assists in 19 appearances in all competitions.
“Always a dream to play the biggest competition with my country,” Mbappe wrote on Twitter.
France's squad depth is UNREAL 😳🔥 pic.twitter.com/Ntn2W4Xlxf
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) November 9, 2022
Meanwhile, despite dealing with an injury, Deschamps went with Presnel Kimpembe as one of the players that will contest to be the starter at central defense. Kimpembe was on the 2018 team but was more of a depth piece rather than an option to start.
“An immense pride to have the opportunity again to represent my country in the most beautiful of competitions,” Kimpembe said in an Instagram post.
Along with Kimpembe and Mbappe, other players who have gone through PSG, such as Alphonse Areola, Adrien Rabiot, Kingsley Coman and Christopher Nkunku, also made the team.
