The surprises in Deschamps' squad 🇫🇷 | OneFootball

Will there be one tonight?

This Thursday evening, Didier Deschamps will unveil his list of players selected for the 2026 World Cup in America.

While the France manager has never really been the type to completely shake things up from one squad list to the next, he has still managed to spring a few surprises on us when announcing the players picked for the Euros or the World Cup.

Before tonight’s list, let’s look back at those times when Deschamps surprised France with unexpected names.

Morgan Schneiderlin & Rémy Cabella - 2014

As he was preparing for his first World Cup on the France bench, Didier Deschamps caught everyone off guard by calling up Morgan Schneiderlin and Rémy Cabella among the reserves.

It was the injuries to Franck Ribéry and Clément Grenier before the start of the tournament that propelled the two newcomers into the France squad for the first time. The Southampton midfielder got the chance to come on in the final group-stage match against Ecuador, while the Montpellier player stayed on the bench throughout the tournament.

Steven Nzonzi - 2018

This is the story of a huge scandal indirectly sparked by the Sevilla FC player. Called up to the national team for the first time in November 2017, Steven Nzonzi was surprisingly selected for the 2018 World Cup instead of... Adrien Rabiot, who was only named as a reserve.

Shortly afterward, the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder announced in a statement that he was refusing his call-up as a reserve, triggering headlines for many days.

Karim Benzema - 2021

This is the story of a comeback no one was expecting anymore. After years of falling-out and controversy that had poisoned the daily life of the France team, Karim Benzema made his surprise return for Euro 2020.

Reported in the press the day before, this return left France in total suspense for 24 hours before Didier Deschamps said the Real Madrid striker’s name on TF1’s 8 p.m. news. Unfortunately, despite Benzema, France were knocked out in the round of 16 of the Euros by Switzerland.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.

📸 THOMAS SAMSON - AFP or licensors