Opponents three times during the last confrontations between PSG and RC Strasbourg (for a victory each and a draw), Désiré and Guéla Doué will not face each other with their respective selections, next Thursday (9:10 p.m.), during the first preparation match of the France team before the 2026 World Cup against Ivory Coast. Didier Deschamps’ team, gathered since Friday in Clairefontaine, will then face Northern Ireland on Monday 8, in Lille, before flying to its base camp in Boston.
Désiré Doué (20 years old) will be spared by his French coach for the match against the Elephants of his big brother Guéla (23 years old). They could have been direct opponents since the PSG attacking midfielder is likely to start on the left side of the Blues’ attack and Guéla is the Ivorians’ starting right-back.
“La Dèche” has in fact planned not to play its French internationals who start the Champions League final this Saturday between PSG and Arsenal, namely Désiré Doué and Ousmane Dembélé on the Parisian side and William Saliba with the Gunners. Doué and “Dembouz” are accompanied by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in the offensive sector. These are the 10 outfield players who started the 2025 final against Inter (5-0) and they have only played seven minutes together so far this season!
Who to replace Doué and Dembélé?
Lucas Hernandez, Warren Zaire-Emery and Bradley Barcola therefore start on Luis Enrique’s sidelines. If Zaire-Emery and Barcola enter the match against Arsenal early, they could also be exempt from France-Côte d’Ivoire five days later. Rayan Cherki or Marcus Thuram could take the opportunity to accompany Kylian Mbappé and Michael Olise against Ivory Coast.
The six C1 finalists are expected in the coming days by Didier Deschamps at Clairefontaine. Winners of the Conference League against Rayo Vallecano (1-0), Maxence Lacroix and Jean-Philippe Mateta (sole scorer in the final in Leipzig) join the gathering of the French team this Saturday.
