(Football news) France have announced their official 25-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup which is to be held in Qatar after 10 days. The tournament is likely to be Didier Deschamps last one as a France manager. Deschamps has had a couple of injury problems along the way but his squad as a whole doesn't have a lot of surprises. France are the defending champions and they will be looking to retain their cup. Their Euro campaign was a disappointing one as France were knocked out of the Round of 16 by Switzerland. France's Nations League campaign was also not the best as they finished 3rd behind Croatia and Denmark in the table.

France full World Cup squad:

Goalkeepers: Alphonse Areola, Hugo Lloris, Steve Mandanda

Captain Lloris was always going to be in the squad as the first choice keeper. The big name missing is Mike Maignan who was recently nominated for the Ballon d'or. The AC Milan keeper has been struggling with injury problems and has failed to recover in time. Areola and Mandanda have been selected as back-ups while is left out of the squad. 

Defenders: Lucas Hernandez, Theo Hernandez, Presnel Kimpembe, Ibrahima Konate, Jules Koundé, Benjamin Pavard, William Saliba, Dayot Upamecano, Raphael Varane

There were massive concerns over Varane, Kimpembe and Lucas Hernandez but all of them have made the cut. There might be a couple of close calls for the first game with a few players at least. Clement Lenglet and Kurt Zouma have failed to earn a call-up despite picking up form recently. Deschamps has played the 3-4-1-2 formation ever since the Euros concluded and he is likely to do the same in Qatar. There is a lot of versatility in the squad as 5 players can play full back and center back in this squad. The big name missing is Ferland Mendy who has been Real Madrid's starting center back for the past 3 years. Deschamps has gone with the Hernandez brothers and Mendy's lack of attack ability may be the prominent reason for that. Aston Villa left back Lucas Digne and Marseille's Jonathan Clauss have also failed to make the cut. 

Midfielders: Eduardo Camavinga, Youssouf Fofana, Matteo Guendouzi, Adrien Rabiot, Aurélien Tchouameni, Jordan Veretout

France's starting midfielders at the last World Cup are both out with injuries. The absence of Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kante will be a massive miss for France. Tchouaméni was always going to be in the squad as was Rabiot. Camavinga's inclusion is a bit of a surprise as he has had an underwhelming season so far and he didn't have a good time in his last international call up. Fofana, Guendouzi and Vertout have also made the cut. Boubacar Kamara is one midfielder who is unlucky to have missed out.

Forwards: Karim Benzema, Kingsley Coman, Ousmane Dembélé, Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappé, Christopher Nkunku

The star studded forward line has no surprises whatsoever. Benzema has been named in the squad despite his fitness problems. Deschamps said "He will be with us despite the injury he suffered. I believe that he will do everything he can to be ready for the France-Australia match”. Benzema has been through a lot with his international career and to get to play a World Cup after missing around 6 years of international football for off the field reasons is incredible. The Frenchman had a decent tournament back in 2014 and he will be looking to better it. All the other forwards in the squad have been in incredible form this season and are fully fit which is incredible news for Deschamps. Wissam Ben Yedder and Mousa Diaby are two players who would've come very close to a call-up.

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