With the announcement by France’s coach Didier Deschamps of his 23-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil come surprise exclusion of
Manchester City midfielder Sami Nasri and Monaco captain Eric Abidal.
Both players have a combined 108 caps between them. Their exclusion also means they are not featured in the standby list.
The French team will be playing in Group E with Switzerland, Ecuador and Honduras. The team is a very youthful side, with eight of the players
listed under the age of 25.
France squad
Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham), Steve Mandanda (Marseille), Mickael Landreau (Bastia)
Defenders: Mathieu Debuchy (Newcastle), Bacary Sagna (Arsenal), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Mamadou Sakho (Liverpool), Raphael Varane (Real
Madrid), Eliaquim Mangala (Porto), Patrice Evra (Manchester United), Lucas Digne (PSG)
Midfielders: Yohan Cabaye (PSG), Clement Grenier (Lyon), Blaise Matuidi (PSG), Rio Mavuba (Lille), Paul Pogba (Juventus), Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle), Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille)
Forwards: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Olivier Giroud (Arsenal), Antoine Griezmann (Real Sociedad), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), Loic Remy (QPR)
Standby: Remy Cabella (Montpellier), Maxime Gonalons (Lyon), Alexandre Lacazette (Lyon), Loic Perrin (Saint-Etienne), Stephane Ruffier (Saint-
Etienne), Morgan Schneiderlin (Southampton), Benoit Tremoulinas (Bordeaux)