FRANCE

Didier Deschamps – a controversial figure at the best of times – skipped straight to the point with his 23-man World Cup squad and he wasn’t afraid to let rip in the forward third.

Manchester United star Anthony Martial will feel hard done by from his omission, the winger was in fine form until the arrival of Alexis Sanchez forced him out of the Red Devils starting lineup, and eventually out of World Cup contention.

Alexandre Lacazette pays the price for Arsenal’s poor results this season, while Dimitri Payet may be regretting his return to Ligue One – denied a final reckoning. Les Bleus also scrap bolter Mathieu Debuchy, Mamadou Sakho, the injured Laurent Koscielny, alongside Kingsley Coman and Adrien Rabiot.

It means France will take a relatively unproven defensive line to Russia; eight players with an average age of 24 and just over 100 caps between them. But the starlets in France’s squad are just another reminder that the land of cheese and snails has arguably the greatest youth production in the world.

FULL SQUAD (23 players)

Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur), Steve Mandanda (Marseille), Alphonse Areola (Paris Saint-Germain);

Defenders: Djibril Sidibe (Monaco), Benjamin Pavard (Stuttgart), Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid), Presnel Kimpembe (Paris Saint-Germain), Adil Rami (Marseille), Benjamin Mendy (Manchester City), Lucas Hernandez (Atletico Madrid);

Midfielders: Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Corentin Tolisso (Bayern Munich), Blaise Matuidi (Juventus), Ngolo Kante (Chelsea), Steven Nzonzi (Sevilla);

Forwards: Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Olivier Giroud (Chelsea), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain), Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona), Florian Thauvin (Marseille), Nabil Fekir (Lyon), Thomas Lemar (Monaco)