Zidane fields the French with five newcomers and retains Mbappé

Zinédine Zidane presented the first squad of Les Bleus on Friday, after Didier Deschamps was dismissed following the fourth‑place finish at the World Cup. The new national coach opts for a 23‑man group with five debutants and confirms Kylian Mbappé as captain.

New squad and debutants

The familiar names are, of course, still present. Kylian Mbappé remains captain, as Zidane emphasized during the press conference. Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembélé, Désiré Doué, Bradley Barcola and Rayan Cherki were also called up for the international break.

Zidane added five newcomers: goalkeeper Guillaume Restes (Toulouse), midfielder Andy Diouf (Inter), defender Jérémy Jacquet (Liverpool), forward Lucas Da Cunha (Como) and Estéban Lepaul (Stade Rennes).

The squad also includes left‑back Adrien Truffert, who played his only international in 2022 and now, four years later, earns his second cap.

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Several names from last summer’s World Cup squad are missing, including N'Golo Kanté, Marcus Thuram, Jean‑Philippe Mateta and William Saliba; the latter two are sidelined with injuries.

Zidane deliberately limited the squad to just 23 players, even though he could have called up to 26. “I wanted twenty outfield players and three goalkeepers in my team,” the former Ballon d’Or winner explained, adding with a smile that 22 or 23 outfield players would also have been sufficient.

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Les Bleus will face Turkey, Belgium, Italy and then Spain again during this international break.