N’Golo Kanté returns to a list of France plagued by absences

The defender Kurt Zouma, the goalkeeper Alphonse Areola and the striker Wissam Ben Yedder are three of the main novelties of the call that the French national coach, Didier Deschamps, announced this Thursday for the next two qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup against Kazakhstan and Finland.

The list, which also includes the ‘Spanish’ Karim Benzema, Antoine Griezmann y Jules Koundé, is dominated by Deschamps’ need to replace several usual injuries from his recent calls, especially starting defender Raphäel Varane, Atlético striker Thomas Lemar and substitute goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

The midfielder also returns N’Golo Kanté, axis of the French game, after a series of physical problems.

This is the complete list of summoned:

Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham / ING), Benoît Costil (Girondins / FRA) y Alphonse Areola (West Ham / ING).

Defenses: Lucas Digne (Everton / ING), Léo Dubois (Olympique Lyonnais / FRA), Benjamin Pavard, Lucas Hernandez y Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich / ALE), Presnel Kimpembe (Paris Saint-Germain / FRA), Jules Koundé (Sevilla / ESP ), Théo Hernandez (Milan / ITA) y Kurt Zouma (Chelsea / ING).

Midfielders: N’Golo Kanté (Chelsea / ING), Paul Pogba (Manchester United / ING), Aurélien Tchouaméni (Monaco / FRA), Mattéo Guendouzi (Marseille / FRA) and Adrian Rabiot (Juventus / ITA).

Forwards: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid / ESP), Antoine Griezmann (Atlético de Madrid / ESP), Moussa Diaby (Leverkusen / ALE), Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich / ALE), Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain / FRA) y Wissam Ben Yedder (Monaco / FRA).

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