France coach assembled a squad with formidable attacking talent for the World Cup and rewarded goalkeeper Robin Risser with a call-up for the showpiece tournament on Thursday following his breakthrough season.
Risser, who plays for Lens, has been one of the revelations of the French league season and won the award for the best goalkeeper earlier this week. He played a big role in making Lens the second-best defense in and was selected by Deschamps in a No. 3 role behind Mike Maignan and Brice Samba.
鈥淚’m full of pride, it’s something incredible,鈥� Risser told broadcaster TF1. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 find the words. It鈥檚 just extraordinary. It was one of my dreams.鈥�
France is looking for a third World Cup title and is among the favorites for the event taking place from June 11-July 19 in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
France has been drawn in Group I and will take on Senegal, Iraq and Norway during the group stage.
Deschamps is gifted with an impressive attacking reservoir including , Ballon d鈥橭r winner , rising star , , Rayan and .
He also called up Crystal Palace forward Jean-Philippe Mateta, who was preferred to Randal Kolo Muani in his 26-man list. The Tottenham striker had been a late addition to France鈥檚 previous World Cup squad four years ago. Kolo Muani scored a goal against Morocco in the semifinals and in the final before France lost to Argentina in a penalty shootout.
Among those missing out are Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga and PSG goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier, who lost his starting spot to Matvey Safonov at the club and has not played since the end of January.
鈥淭he main criteria is sporting performance,” Deschamps said. “I understand that Lucas Chevalier may be disappointed, but he hasn鈥檛 played for several months anymore. At the time when he could have had some playing time, he didn鈥檛 get any.鈥�
Lens winger Florian Thauvin may also feel disappointed, having been one of the five players nominated for Ligue 1鈥檚 player of the season.
It will be Deschamps鈥檚 final tournament. He announced this year that he will stop after the World Cup, ending a successful reign which began in 2012 and saw France win the 2018 World Cup and reach the 2022 final.
“It鈥檚 a special feeling. I did many things today for the last time,” he said. “The most important thing is today and tomorrow. We are focused on the World Cup.鈥�
Former France great Zinedine Zidane is expected to take over, although he has not coached since ending his second spell in charge of Real Madrid, leading the Spanish giant to three Champions League and two La Liga titles.
___
Goalkeepers: Mike Maignan, Brice Samba, Robin Risser.
Defenders: Lucas Digne, Malo Gusto, Lucas Hernandez, Th茅o Hernandez, Ibrahima Konat茅, Jules Kound茅, Maxence Lacroix, William Saliba, Dayot Upamecano.
Midfielders: N’Golo Kant茅, Manu Kon茅, Adrien Rabiot, Aurelien Tchouam茅ni, Warren Zaire-Emery.
Forwards: Maghnes Akliouche, Bradley Barcola, Rayan Cherki, Ousmane Demb茅l茅, D茅sir茅 Dou茅, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Kylian Mbapp茅, Michael Olise, Marcus Thuram.
___
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
