Deschamps told the press before he read the names out that this is his last tournament as France manager. Done after it regardless of what happens. The squad he has taken to previous tournaments won a World Cup and reached another final. The one he has named for this last attempt might be his best.
France named their 26 on May 14. No real shocks. A couple of names missing that some people expected. Several that Premier League supporters will already know.
THE SQUAD
For every other confirmed squad heading into the tournament, our World Cup 2026 squad tracker is updated daily across all 48 nations, and for the full breakdown of who Tuchel is taking to face them, our England World Cup 2026 squad analysis covers every selection.
THE SQUAD STORIES
Two goals in the World Cup final against Argentina and France still lost. That was 2022. Mbappe was 23, hit the net twice, had chances for more, and it was not enough. He is 25 now and has spent two years watching everyone else get discussed in the Ballon d’Or conversation while he keeps producing numbers that should settle it. This is his third World Cup and the first two have given him a winners medal and a final-but-lost. He knows which one matters more.
Griezmann is 35 and still in it. Key figure in 2018. Been to every tournament since 2014. Got closer and then did not get there again. Deschamps keeps picking him and Deschamps is rarely wrong about who he trusts in the moments that count.
Camavinga had a difficult season at Real Madrid and is not in it. Deschamps moved past the question in the press conference. Kolo Muani moved from PSG to Juventus on loan in January, did not do enough in either spell, also left out. Mateta from Crystal Palace is in. Fourteen Premier League goals for a club that finished thirteenth. Deschamps rated that specific profile and here he is.
THE PREMIER LEAGUE ANGLE
Liverpool supporters watching this squad announcement will have gone straight to one name before anything else. Konate is going to the World Cup and if France play England he will be one of the two centre-backs trying to stop Kane.
Two seasons at Anfield as one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League. Last season arguably his most consistent. The partnership with Van Dijk gets most of the coverage but Konate individually has been the more impressive of the two in recent months. His pace in behind, his aerial dominance, his ability to step out and cut lanes before problems develop. Liverpool supporters have watched it every week. Now everyone else gets to see it at a World Cup.
Kane against Konate. The best striker in English football against a Liverpool centre-back who has spent two seasons stopping the best strikers in the Premier League. That matchup sits inside every conversation about England facing France and it is a genuinely interesting one because neither outcome is obvious.
Saliba spent this season winning the Premier League at Arsenal and will spend the tournament in France’s defensive structure doing the same things he has been doing for Arteta. He is 25 and the best French centre-back of his generation.
Gusto and Fofana are both Chelsea. Gusto at right-back, Fofana in central midfield. Neither starts in France’s best XI but both are in the squad. Digne from Villa as left-back cover. Mateta from Palace up front. This France squad has more Premier League players in it than any previous French World Cup squad in recent memory and most of them are not going to start.
THE ENGLAND PROBLEM
Different groups. England cannot face France until the quarter-finals at the very earliest and that only happens if both sides come through the round of 32 and the round of 16. The assumption is that both will. The bracket does the rest.
Kane’s penalty hit the bar. Five minutes left, England needed it, the ball went up and came back off the crossbar and France went through. That is the image that sits over every England versus France conversation now. December 2022. Giroud’s header put France ahead, Kane equalised from the spot, and then the second Kane penalty was the chance to go level and it hit the bar and England went home. France won 2-1.
Mbappe is two years older now. Konate is more settled at international level. Zaire-Emery was not in that Qatar squad and is now probably the first name in the midfield. The squad that beat England in 2022 has been improved upon.
The matchup England’s defensive coaches will have been thinking about since the draw: Mbappe against Reece James. James has handled the best wide forwards in the Premier League and Champions League at club level. This is different. This is a World Cup knockout game.
ONE MORE ATTEMPT
Deschamps won it in 2018. Lost on penalties in 2022 after France came back from 2-0 down against Argentina to make it 3-3 and then lost in the shootout. One more go.
England and France at the quarter-finals would be the second time in three World Cups. The previous meeting ended with a penalty hitting the bar. Nothing about that history makes the prospect of another meeting feel comfortable from an England perspective.
The squad named on May 14 has no obvious weaknesses. France’s problem in 2022 was not the players. Whether Deschamps can get the result his final tournament deserves is the question North America will answer.
When France and England kick off their respective campaigns, our guide to the best ways to stream World Cup 2026 games live in the UK covers every broadcast option for every game.