Paul Pogba invited by France to watch Euro 2024 showdown against Belgium: Reports
Paul Pogba, the 2018 World Cup winner, has been reportedly invited by France Football to watch their Euro 2024 Round of 16 clash against Belgium on Monday, July 1. Pogba is currently serving a four-year doping ban and is set to be away from the field until 2027.
The former Manchester United midfielder was an integral part of the France squad that won the 2018 World Cup in Russia. He scored in the final against Croatia to help the side win 4-2 on the night.
However, his on-field fortunes have gone downhill since. Injury issues ravaged his time at Manchester United and he eventually returned to Juventus in 2022. Even in Italy, his fortunes didn't take a turn for the good and he was handed a four-year doping ban in 2023.
Now, according to The Athletic (via Eurofoot), Pogba could be in attendance at the Dusseldorf Arena in Dusseldorf, Germany, for France's last-16 clash against Belgium. The report claims that the midfielder has been invited by France Football to watch the knockout game.
France superstar Kylian Mbappe aware his broken nose could be targetted in last-16 Euro 2024 showdown against Belgium
Pogba's fellow World Cup winner, Kylian Mbappe will line up for France in the crunch game against Belgium. Mbappe suffered a broken nose in Les Blues' opening Euro 2024 game against Austria and only returned to action in their last group game against Poland.
Talking about his broken nose in a pre-match press conference, Mbappe conceded that he could be targetted by Belgian defenders. He quickly added that he decided to play with a broken nose fully aware that opposition teams would target it.
"I think that if you're playing with a broken nose and you haven't had your nose operated yet, you're a target. I knew what I was signing up for when I decided that I wasn't going to go home and that I wasn't going to get the operation done and that I was going to play.
"And maybe I'll get muscled a little bit and it might hurt. But I'm ready to give everything I can for this jersey and to help France go as far as possible. If this means that someone's going to hit my nose, so be it. It's already broken," he said in the press conference (via ESPN).
Mbappe has so far scored one and assisted one goal in two appearances at Euro 2024.