Didier Deschamps seeks the right third goalkeeper, not the third best | OneFootball

With Lucas Chevalier possibly sidelined, Didier Deschamps is weighing who best fits the third-choice brief for the World Cup from 11 June to 19 July.

According to L'Équipe, since taking charge in 2012 he has used eight goalkeepers, Hugo Lloris, Steve Mandanda, Stéphane Ruffier, Benoît Costil, Alphonse Areola, Mike Maignan, Brice Samba and Lucas Chevalier. He even called a ninth to the 2014 World Cup, Mickaël Landreau, although his last cap was in 2008.

After Mandanda was injured just before Brazil 2014, Deschamps underlined his view of a third-choice by summoning Landreau late in his career to guide the group and to keep harmony among goalkeepers without personal ambition at stake.

At the last two World Cups, 2018 and 2022, Franck Raviot oversaw the same trio, Lloris, Mandanda and Areola. Roles were fixed, Lloris was captain and number one, Mandanda could take the third group game if qualification was secured, and Areola absorbed most of the training shots.

Since late winter 2022, after the international retirements of Lloris and Mandanda, Maignan has been first choice, with Samba and Chevalier alternating as two and three. The March camp confirmed that pattern, Maignan played Brazil, 2-1 on 26, and Samba faced Colombia, 3-1 on 29.

Chevalier remained in the squad despite not playing for his club, in part because Areola is also a back-up at West Ham, and because Deschamps prizes the best third goalkeeper rather than simply the third best. His muscle injury, just as he might have featured against Lorient on Saturday, further harms his case and could revive Areola, who knows that others-first brief. A Hugo Lloris move into a third-choice role at a finals would be unprecedented for France, a former captain, always first choice, and now 39.

Source: L'Équipe