He is already the first major French absentee of the summer. Released on a stretcher and in tears last night against PSG (0-2), Hugo Ekitike announced his withdrawal from the World Cup in the United States, which was to be his first major tournament in the selection. While waiting to know whether it is partial or total, the rupture of the Achilles tendon was unanimously confirmed by the French press this Wednesday morning.
29 days before the announcement of his last list at the head of the Blues, Didier Deschamps would have liked to avoid losing a player who counts. Because if Ekitike was not yet starting in the shoes of an indisputable holder, the Liverpool striker had asserted himself as a credible option to accompany Mbappé, Olise and Dembélé during the last break. It was no coincidence that DD started him against Brazil, a match in which the ex-Parisian scored (1-2) and showed some interesting things.
Kolo Muani big favorite to replace him?
But then who will replace Ekitike now? If Deschamps remains on a list structure of nine attackers, as in March, we already know that six will be on the trip: Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise, Désiré Doué, Rayan Cherki and the returning Bradley Barcola. Convincing and scorer against Colombia (1-3), Marcus Thuram finds color on the Inter side and also has a good chance of being part of the trip. There would then be two places left, one of which went to Maghnes Akliouche in March, amazing against Colombia.
Logically, Randal Kolo Muani would inherit the last folding seat left vacant following Ekitike’s withdrawal. The ex-Parisian was called up during the last rally despite a very relative role (28 minutes of play against Colombia), but even if his season with Tottenham remains unsuccessful at all levels, he has often been present in the selection and maintains a certain rating in the eyes of his coach. His record also speaks for him (9 goals in 32 matches) and could weigh heavily against that of Christopher Nkunku (2 goals in 18 selections), who seems to start from much further. Same for Kingsley Coman, now at Al-Nassr. The two competitors of “RKM” could finally be named Florian Thauvin or Jean-Philippe Mateta, very well returned to the Crystal Palace side and double scorer last weekend. Both players had also shone in the Blues at the end of 2025. There will be several who want to shine in the Blues in the summer of 2026.
