After being called up for the first time with the French team, Houssem Aouar's debut with Les Bleus will have to wait. The Olympique de Lyon midfielder will not be able to attend the Clarefontaine concentration next week after being diagnosed positive for coronavirus, also depriving him of playing today's match between “Les Gones” against Dijon.
His absence in the call has been replaced by Nabil Fékir, Aouar's former teammate at Lyon who has been a fixture for Deschamps in the last selection lists. The French team will debut against Sweden on September 5 in the Nations League before playing matchday two against Croatia on September 8 in Paris.
Aouar has not been the only player to have been dropped from the French team by Covid-19. Paul Pogba and Tanguy Ndombelé were not called by Didier Deschamps precisely because they had been infected in recent days, allowing the promising Eduardo Camavinga enter the list.