FIFA World Cup 2018: Top 5 Players who Deserved a Place in the France Squad

May 21, 2018 at 1:21 PM

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FIFA World Cup 2018: Top 5 Players who Deserved a Place in the France Squad

Since the last couple of years, the squad depth of France have been phenomenal, and for the manager, Didier Deschamps, it has been a mighty task to name a 23-man squad for the FIFA World Cup 2018 from a large talent pool like France.

To put things into perspective, Deschamps had to select his strikers for the World Cup from a list comprising of Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud, Kylian Mbappe, Alexandre Lacazette, André Pierre-Gignac, Wissam Ben Yedder, Karim Benzema and Kevin Gameiro among others.

While some players got their well-deserved chance in the squad, some had to leave heartbroken and forget their World Cup dreams despite being in an amazing form.

Considering this, we picked top five players who deserved a place in the squad in France’s squad.

1. Adrien Rabiot

Adrien Rabiot was expected to be a part of the travelling squad to Russia and is perhaps the most surprising exclusion.

He was a regular starter for PSG despite the competition for places in the squad.

He was also a regular member of the French squad during the qualifiers and the friendlies preceding the FIFA World Cup 2018, but when the big day came, Steven Nzonzi got the nod ahead of him.

2. Dimitri Payet

Dimitri Payet was expected to be part of the squad after a brilliant season with Marseille during which he scored nine goals and assisted 20.

However, fate played a cruel game on him, as he picked up an injury in the first half of the Europa League final, a day before the announcement of the France squad.

His agony of losing the final must have increased manifold when he learned that he wouldn’t be playing the FIFA World Cup.

Also, he is already 31, and this might have been his last chance to play at the biggest stage in football.

3. Alexandre Lacazette

Alexandre Lacazette had never represented France at an international tournament.

However, he does have 16 caps and three goals. He played 39 games for the Gunners this season after his move in the summer, scoring 17 goals and assisting three more.

Although his numbers don’t seem that bad; he had a 13-match spell where he found the back of the net only once, and he didn’t score in nine straight games during that run.

His erratic form may be one of the reasons why did not get included in the 23-man squad for the FIFA World Cup 2018. 

4. Anthony Martial

Anthony Martial was part of France’s Euro 2016 squad but the emergence of Ousmane Dembele, as well as his struggles and low playing time in Manchester United, have made life difficult for Martial.

He has 11 goals and ten assists to his name across all competitions which is an outstanding return for a player who only made 26 starts. In the league, he started in just 18 games and made a further 12 substitute appearances.

The 22-year old is clearly talented and would be a starter elsewhere. Having missed out on the World Cup, he would surely be considering his future at Manchester United and rumours of a move to Juventus is gathering speed.

5. Wissam Ben Yedder

The Sevilla striker who had been in phenomenal form throughout the season has also been missed out.

The 27-year old striker has eight goals in as many matches in UEFA Champions League, and he has also scored eight goals in his 17 league appearances for Sevilla.

At an international level, Ben Yedder represented France at under-21 level. He made his full international debut for France in March 2018.

After playing well for Sevilla, Didier included Ben Yedder in the squad for two friendly matches against Colombia and Russia.

On May 17, 2018, he was named on the standby list for the 23-man World Cup squad, but in the end, dreams shattered for the French forward.

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