FIFA World Cup 2018: France XI that will not be playing in Russia

Fullbacks: Mathieu Debuchy and Lucas Digne

Debuchy was France's first choice right-back at the previous World Cup

If there is one area of the pitch that France lack depth in, it is in the fullback positions.

The only two specialist fullbacks in the squad are Djibril Sidibé and Benjamin Mendy. Now Sidibe picked up an injury midway through April and only returned to action on May 12th as a second-half substitute.

Mendy, on the other hand, missed most of the season through a cruciate ligament injury and only recently returned to action. His last start for Manchester City was back in September 2017, in the game he picked up his injury. However, Deschamps has opted to take him to Russia ahead of PSG’s Layvin Kurzawa and Barcelona’s Lucas Digne.

There are others who can play as full-backs in the French squad though. Benjamin Pavard of VfB Stuttgart is capable of playing as a right-back and Lucas Hernandez of Atletico Madrid can play as a left-back although both players are centre-backs by trade.

As a result, former Arsenal man Mathieu Debuchy, who was France’s first choice right-back at the previous World Cup misses out. Debuchy moved to Saint-Etienne in January and quickly hit top gear. In fact, he was named the Man of the Match on his debut for the club and was named the Ligue 1 player of the month for February 2018.

Digne has spent most of his Barcelona career on the sidelines

Lucas Digne has spent most of his time at Barcelona as an understudy to Jordi Alba and that has made it difficult for Deschamps to pick the 24-year-old and the situation is similar for Layvin Kurzawa who has lost his place in the side to Yuri Berchiche.

Other notable exclusions: Layvin Kurzawa (PSG), Christophe Jallet (Olympique Lyon)and Jordan Amavi (Olympique de Marseille)