France’s best XI – based entirely objectively, statistically on 2025-26 form: No Saliba or Konate?! | OneFootball

Arsenal centre-back William Saliba and Real Madrid’s latest signing Ibrahima Konate don’t get into France‘s best XI if we’re going purely on the underlying statistics.

Many people are tipping Les Bleus to go all the way at the 2026 World Cup, such is the special talent at Deschamps’ disposal. But forget the superstar names, who would start for them purely on merit?

Data firm WhoScored claim their ratings “are considered to be the most accurate, respected and well-known performance indicators in the world of football” – we’ll take their word for it and consider them the oracle of judging which French players have performed best over the past year.

“The ratings are based on a unique, comprehensive statistical algorithm, calculated live during the game,” they explain.

“There are over 200 raw statistics included in the calculation of a player’’s/team’’s rating, weighted according to their influence within the game.

“Every event of importance is taken into account, with a positive or negative effect on ratings weighted in relation to its area on the pitch and its outcome.”

Using said ratings, here is the best-rated France XI from across the 2025-26 campaign (league only):

GK: Mike Maignan (6.89)

Nick Pope was an eyebrow-raising inclusion in the equivalent England XI, but there’s no such controversy here.

Deschamps’ tried-and-trusted No.1 makes it between the sticks here after another solid season with AC Milan.

However, Maignan’s rating is only marginally better than that of Como’s Jean Butez (6.86). No great surprise, given no keeper – not even Arsenal’s David Raya – kept more clean sheets across Europe’s big five leagues in 2025-26.

Butez can feel a tad unlucky not to get in the squad as a back-up, though, with Deschamps preferring the experienced Brice Samba, and Lens’ highly-rated 21-year-old Robin Risser instead.

RB: Jules Kounde (7.12)

The general mood around Kounde is that his stock’s fallen a bit and he hasn’t been at his best at Barcelona over the past season or two.

But the stats suggest he’s the best French defender, while he featured prominently as Hansi Flick’s Barca retained their La Liga crown last season.

The jury remains out on how reliable he is in the biggest games, against elite opposition. Watch this space.

CB: Florian Lejeune (7.06)

Yes, that’s former Newcastle United centre-back Lejeune.

Yes, the 35-year-old who has never been capped by France at senior level.

To be fair, anyone who regularly watches La Liga will vouch that the veteran has been excellent and dependable at Rayo Vallecano for a few years now.

He made Sid Lowe’s Team of the Season, and he’s the oracle of all things Spanish football.

CB: Malang Sarr (7.04)

Amazingly, Arsenal’s title-winning centre-back William Saliba (6.91) misses out from this backline. As do Real Madrid’s latest signing Ibrahima Konate (6.93) and Bayern Munich’s Dayot Upamecano (6.88).

Not only are they rated lower than Sarr and Lejeune, but also the likes of Udinese’s Oumar Solet (7.00), Crystal Palace’s Maxence Lacroix (7.03) and Sunderland’s Nordi Mukiele (6.99).

After James Tarkowski made the England XI, this is further evidence to take defensive stats with a pinch of salt.

Saliba was excellent, but perhaps he won’t rank well in a statistical algorithm that’ll reward marks for things like blocks, tackles, clearances and aerial duels won – the Arsenal centre-back’s tactical understanding and positional awareness are so good that they don’t massively factor into his game.

Still, nice of Sarr – who was written off by some after his failed stint at Chelsea – to get his flowers after a superb season for Ligue 1 runners-up Lens.

LB: Matthieu Udol (7.08)

Sneaking in just ahead of Bournemouth’s Adrien Truffert (6.99) is another underrated defender who featured prominently in Lens’ surprise title challenge.

The third uncapped player in this back four, the ship has probably sailed for 30-year-old Udol, who never even represented his country at youth level.

If we’re being uncharitable, this might suggest that it’s a bit easier to score highly in Ligue 1 than it is in the Premier League.

DM: Benjamin Andre (7.10)

Les Bleus might have the most stacked attack that’s ever been sent to a World Cup, but the midfield doesn’t look quite as anywhere near as strong as the one that lifted the trophy in 2018.

The fact that 35-year-old N’Golo Kante, who has been playing out in Saudi Arabia for the past three years, is still getting call-ups tells you as much.

Eduardo Camavinga (6.67, not even in the squad) and his Real Madrid team-mate Aurelien Tchouameni (7.01) haven’t been as strong as Lille’s 35-year-old uncapped defensive midfielder. That hints this is one area that Les Bleus can be got at.

CM: Adrien Thomasson (7.13)

“Swear every tournament France have 10 of the best ballers you’ve ever seen in your life and f*cking Rabiot in there somehow,” was a recent observation that made us laugh.

Poor Rabiot. That tweet gained over 120,000 likes at the time of writing. Ouch.

There wasn’t much in it, to be fair, but Rabiot (7.05) doesn’t quite get into this XI. It’s a relatively unheralded Adrien – Thomasson, 32, never capped by France – that makes the cut. We’re sensing a theme.

FWR: Michael Olise (7.84)

The highest-rated player in this XI, Olise’s WhoScored rating of 7.84 places him the third best player in Europe in 2025-26 – behind only Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal and his Bayern Munich team-mate Harry Kane.

That sensational campaign, along with his outrageous hat-trick in France’s final warm-up friendly, surely ensures he’ll be among the first names on Deschamps’ teamsheet.

That’s some feat, given the wealth of options in attack, including back-to-back Champions League winner Desire Doue (7.13) as a direct back-up option.

CAM: Florian Thauvin (7.15)

What, no Cherki? The only shock in France’s front four is the playmaker.

One-time Newcastle flop Thauvin, who returned to France last summer after years in the relative wilderness (Mexican side Tigres, Udinese) has a marginally higher rating than the twinkle-toed Manchester City star.

The fifth(!) Lens player in this XI, but all of them have missed out on Deschamps’ 26-man squad. Thauvin had been talked up as having a decent chance after his recent revival, having earned three caps over the past 12 months.

FWL: Kylian Mbappe (7.70)

Everyone else in this XI features in the position they did for their clubs this season.

We’ve made an exception for Mbappe, who nowadays is utilised exclusively as a centre-forward for Real Madrid. But he has plenty of experience on the left, and was superb playing off a traditional No.9 in Olivier Giroud in years gone by.

Moving him back there to accommodate the current Ballon d’Or holder, who started and scored in the most recent Champions League final, makes sense to us.

Surprisingly, it’s actually relatively slim pickings if you’re to look at French forwards who played their football predominantly on the left in 2025-26, with Eintracht Frankfurt’s Jean-Matteo Bahoya (6.77) faring best. He currently plays for France’s Under-21s, and is one to watch for the next cycle under Deschamps’ successor (spoiler alert: Zinedine Zidane).

ST: Ousmane Dembele (7.23)

You could argue that Dembele doesn’t meet the ‘played enough football’ criteria, given that half of his 22 Ligue 1 appearances in 2025-26 were off the bench.

But Dembele was fit and fresh enough to play a key role in PSG retaining their European crown. It was a frustrating, injury-hit season, and he hasn’t the Ballon d’Or heights of last season, but he has an excellent recent record of showing up in the biggest games.

His rating of 7.09 in the Champions League, something we haven’t factored in, wasn’t far off his domestic record.

You’ve also got Inter’s Marcus Thuram (13 goals and 6 assists in Serie A, rated 7.12) and Ligue 1 Golden Boot winner Esteban Lepaul (20 goals, five assists, rated 7.02) among the alternative centre-forward options.

Lepaul didn’t even make it into Deschamps’ squad, such is his wealth of centre-forward options.