A month after a successful first rally on the Blues bench, Zinedine Zidane unveiled his list for the last international break of 2026. Faced with the withdrawals of Ousmane Dembélé, Manu Koné, William Saliba, Jules Koundé, Maxence Lacroix, Maghnes Akliouche and Estéban Lepaul, the French technician had to make several adjustments to prepare for the two Nations League confrontations in Italy (the November 12) and against Turkey (November 15).
Here’s the big surprise, return of Gusto, Tchoumeni and Thuram
The surprise of this list is undoubtedly the call-up of Pablo Pagis (23 years old), author of a very good start to the season with Paris FC. Asked at the end of the announcement of the list about the presence of the former Lorient player, Zidane explained that this choice followed the withdrawal of Maghnes Akliouche, announced during the day by PSG. “ He was selected because we had a little problem with Akliouche. He got injured and simply won’t be able to be with us. Pablo, meanwhile, was included in the expanded list. He’s an interesting player, with a different profile, who I wanted to observe. This is a great opportunity to evaluate it at this gathering. »
Image generation in progress
Absent from the first meeting, Malo Gusto (Chelsea) is making his return to the selection. The right side took advantage of Jules Koundé’s package to rejoin the group. “ Jules Koundé is affected, so a choice had to be made. Malo was the next player on my list. He knows the selection. He certainly has less playing time at the moment, but he already has experience at this level. This is therefore the opportunity to give him the opportunity to return to Blue. These are choices that concern this selection, this gathering, and it is deserved. »
Kroupi waiting, Hernandez the other forgotten
Aurélien Tchouameni (Real Madrid) and Marcus Thuram (Inter Milan) will also find Clairefontaine. The midfielder will now have to deal with new competition from Lucas Da Cunha, author of his first successful steps in the blue jersey. “ They are different playersZidane insisted. He finds a place in the selection, he is operational again, he finds the French team, we will see what we are going to do, there are two matches and it will be up to me to make my choices “. The Interist center forward takes advantage of the attacks to return to the Blues. “ This is the opportunity to observe it. There was one injured, which allows me to have him with us. He knows the French team and I wanted to evaluate him. »
If Marcus Thuram was retained by Zidane, the injuries to Dembélé and Lepaul could have offered young Éli Junior Kroupi the opportunity to discover the A selection. The Bournemouth center forward will ultimately have to wait, despite the assumed interest of Zinédine Zidane and his staff. “ He could have been on the list and been with us. He was sidelined for two or three months. He made a good comeback, but it was still a little tight. » A fate which also applies to Lucas Hernandez, performing well with PSG in recent weeks, but absent from this list. “ Too old? No, not at all, these are choices. We have a list of 64 players at the start, Lucas was in it, like many players, and then there are choices. I have chosen other players for this gathering, but the door is open for everyone “. At the end of this second list, Zinedine Zidane continues to lay the foundations of his group, between returns and new opportunities. It remains to be seen whether his choices will pay off and whether they will allow France to validate its ticket for the rest of the Nations League.
