Swedish TV’s combined France v Sweden XI selects only French players | OneFootball

Swedish World Cup broadcaster TV4 has named an all-French combined XI for Sweden v France’s round of 32 on Tuesday at 11pm French time. According to L'Équipe, the line-up did not feature a single Sweden player.

The XI was Mike Maignan in goal with a back four of Jules Koundé, Dayot Upamecano, William Saliba and Lucas Digne. Ousmane Dembélé, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Adrien Rabiot and Bradley Barcola were selected in midfield, with Michael Olise alongside Kylian Mbappé up front.

Fans online highlighted the absence of Viktor Gyökeres, Alexander Isak and Yasin Ayari from the combined side.

In the build-up, TV4 had already described the prospect of facing France as nightmarish and spoke of a star-studded cast featuring Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise and Désiré Doué. TV4 pundit Hans Backe, the former Sweden coach, felt Didier Deschamps’s players were clearly superior, suggesting France have two teams capable of winning this World Cup. Deschamps is set to return to the bench.

Whether it is trolling or pragmatism, the reminder is that underdogs can strike. Paraguay eliminated Germany on Monday night after a 1-1 draw, winning 4-3 on penalties.

Source: L'Équipe