Samba, Tchouaméni, les frères Thuram and Akliouche left out of Zinédine Zidane’s first France squad | OneFootball

Samba, Tchouaméni, les frères Thuram and Akliouche left out of Zinédine Zidane’s first France squad | OneFootball

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·18 September 2026

Samba, Tchouaméni, les frères Thuram and Akliouche left out of Zinédine Zidane’s first France squad

Article image:Samba, Tchouaméni, les frères Thuram and Akliouche left out of Zinédine Zidane’s first France squad

Zinédine Zidane has named his first 23 for France, with several established players omitted for the Nations League fixtures in September and October.

According to L'Équipe, five newcomers have been included, which has left no room for a number of recent mainstays.


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Brice Samba, the World Cup number two, is not called. Nor are Lucas Hernandez, Lucas Digne, Wesley Fofana, the Lens defender Matthieu Udol or Malo Gusto.

In midfield, N'Golo Kanté, 35, and Aurélien Tchouaméni are absent. It was explained that Tchouaméni had been out for nearly two months and, with four important matches ahead, staying in Madrid to continue his recovery was considered preferable.

Other midfielders missing are Mattéo Guendouzi, Boubacar Kamara, Enzo Le Fée, Pablo Pagis and Khéphren Thuram.

In attack, Maghnes Akliouche, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Senny Mayulu and Marcus Thuram are not included.

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”

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