FIFA World Cup 2018: France XI that will not be playing in Russia
All managers like to be spoilt for choices when it comes to picking their squad. Countries like Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Spain and France have so much depth in quality that several top players have to sit out.
However, no manager has the luxury of choosing from a large talent pool like French manager Didier Deschamps.
To put things into perspective, Deschamps had to select his strikers for the World Cup from a list comprising of Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud, Kylian Mbappe, Alexandre Lacazette, André Pierre-Gignac, Wissam Ben Yedder, Karim Benzema and Kevin Gameiro among others.
Now when you have so many options, several players, including ones who had a good season domestically, will have to watch the World Cup from home.
Considering this, we picked a French XI that won't be playing in Russia at the FIFA World Cup this year and it wasn't easy because we had to leave out several players from the excluded XI. Imagine that!
Goalkeeper: Benoit Costil
France and Tottenham captain, Hugo Lloris is undoubtedly the #1 for France. Olympique Marseille’s Steve Mandanda is the second choice and the final goalkeeper berth is taken by Alphonse Areola.
That's a fair selection to be honest because Lloris is into his 30s and Alphonse Areola who looks like the future #1 for France at the moment will benefit from the experience.
Coming back to the XI, France have named Benoit Costil in the reserves for the World Cup. The 30-year old was the third goalkeeper for France at Euro 2016 but has conceded his place in the squad to PSG’s #1.
Costil moved from Rennes to fellow Ligue 1 side Bordeaux after a six-year stint last summer. Bordeaux went through a mid-season slump where they lost 10 in 14 games while picking up only 8 points and conceding 24 goals!
Despite his club’s staggering form, Costil has kept 9 clean sheets while also averaging 1.63 saves per goal conceded.
Other notable exclusions: Alban Lafont (Toulouse) and Stephane Ruffier (Saint-Étienne)