France Euro 2024 squad: Didier Deschamps' full team (2024)

The France Euro 2024 squad has seen Didier Deschamps take the unusual decision of not selecting a full allocation of 26, with the manager instead choosing 25 players to take with him to Germany this summer.

Like Belgium, Les Bleus are taking just 25 players to Euro 2024, with Deschamps favouring squad harmony over stacking his squad with another superstar. After the shock inclusion of Karim Benzema caused reported friction at Euro 2020 – the striker came back from the cold following blistering form that ultimately won him a Ballon d'Or – it seems like a smart idea to stick with a streamlined group this time around.

France are the favourites, either way. He's never scored at the Euros but Kylian Mbappe is favourite for the Golden Boot, fresh from his Real Madrid switch, while other experienced heads in Olivier Giroud, N'Golo Kante, Antoine Griezmann and Adrien Rabiot support him in an A-list cast.

There are wonderkids a-plenty, too. Bradley Barcola and Warren Zaire-Emery have won Ligue 1 with PSG, William Saliba isn't getting in the starting XI and Real Madrid duo Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni are two midfield generals in the side. There's no excuse for this team not to win a first Euros since 2000.

That's despite being in one of the harder Euro 2024 groups. The Netherlands are the other big team in their group, while Austria and Poland await France, too, in Germany.Getting to the knockouts, on paper, should be a breeze – but there's always a chance that they could make it harder than it should be… despite the French eradicating that self-destructive gene in recent years under the calm of Didi at the wheel.

As ever, FourFourTwo will be covering every minute of the tournament live, providing details on all the Euro 2024 squads and how to watch each game, too.

France Euro 2024 squad

France Euro 2024 squad: The full 25-man team

• GK: Brice Samba (Lens)
• GK: Mike Maignan (AC Milan)
• GK: Alphonse Areola (West Ham)
• DF: Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool)
• DF: William Saliba (Arsenal)
• DF: Jules Kounde (Barcelona)
• DF: Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich)
• DF: Jonathan Clauss (Marseille)
• DF: Benjamin Pavard (Inter Milan)
• DF: Theo Hernandez (AC Milan)
• DF: Ferland Mendy (Real Madrid)
• MF: N'Golo Kante (Al-Ittihad)
• MF: Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid)
• MF: Adrien Rabiot (Juventus)
• MF: Warren Zaire-Emery (PSG)
• MF: Youssouf Fofana (Monaco)
• MF: Aurelien Tchouameni (Real Madrid)
• FW: Olivier Giroud (AC Milan)
• FW: Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid)
• FW: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
• FW: Ousmane Dembele (PSG)
• FW: Randal Kolo Muani (PSG)
• FW: Marcus Thuram (Inter Milan)
• FW: Bradley Barcola (PSG)
• FW: Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich)

France predicted XI and formation

France Euro 2024 squad numbers

France fixtures and results

March 23: France0–2Germany, Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Décines-Charpieu, France
March 26: France3–2Chile, Stade Velodrome, Marseille, France

June 5: France3-0Luxembourg, Stade Saint-Symphorien, Metz, France
June 9: France0-0Canada, Malmut Atlantique, Bordeaux, France

June 17: Austria vFrance, Merkur Spiel-Arena, Düsseldorf, Germany
June 21: Netherlands vFrance, Red Bull Arena, Leipzig, Germany
June 25: France v Poland, Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany

France manager: Didier Deschamps

He's one of three men to have won the World Cup as a player and a manager: now Didier Deschamps could become the first man to be a European and world champion as a player and a coach.

For years, Les Bleus had all the talent in the world but were messy off the field, with head coaches proposing to girlfriends live on TV and walkouts at World Cup camps. That's all gone, now: Deschamps has reunited this country in their love of the national team, got the players proud to be singing the anthem again and though critics may suggest he's not the sharpest tactician, turning the 2022 World Cup final upside down from 2-0 down suggests that the former Juventus star has enough nous to lift another trophy as French boss.

France's star player

Kylian Mbappe

You have to ask? Five goals in World Cup finals, only the second to net a hat-trick in one, PSG's all-time leading scorer, the second-most expensive player of all-time… and now a Galactico. Kylian Mbappe is racking up quite the career – and he's still just 25 years old.

Euro 2024 could well be the forward's redemption story. He's yet to net in the competition and was the unfortunate penalty-taker who decided the shootout three years ago, as Switzerland claimed a shock scalp in the knockouts. Expect maximum motivation from a man with a laser-like focus on breaking records and already 46 goals from his first 77 France matches. Gulp.

Lesson from qualifying

France are - quelle surprise! - bloody good. They topped Group B ahead of the Netherlands, Greece and Republic of Ireland, and their W7 D1 LO record put them second behind only Portugal among all qualified teams.

They also displayed a ruthless streak: the 14-0 mauling of Gibraltar in Nice six months ago was Les Bleus' biggest ever victory.

Strengths

In several positions there is no drop-off in standard from first to second choice, which could be crucial in later rounds.

Like a nightclub bouncer, Deschamps can operate a one-in-one-out system at left-back as well as in both centre-back slots, in two midfield berths and on the right wing without downgrading the team. Antoine Griezmann is irreplaceable, however.

France's defeat to Germany in March, a second in six months, was not-so-coincidentally the first match they had played without the versatile Atletico Madrid forward since 2016.

Weaknesses

France lack an elite right-back. Where's Euro 84 legend Manuel Amoros when you need him?

Jules Kounde is really a centre-half and has yet to impress internationally, while Jonathan Clauss has a great story - the 31-year-old made his professional debut shortly before turning 25 and his first ever top-flight appearance shortly before turning 28-but is more comfortable as a wing-back. If there's one position where France can be got at, this is it.

Most likely to...

Co-opt a hit from the dim or recent past and turn it into the squad's unofficial in-house anthem. During Qatar 2022, Gala's Freed From Desire was the latest to get the treatment. Clips of shirtless, hands-above-the-head warbling inside the dressing room will be going viral.

Least likely to...

Listen to the sceptics. Expect whinging about Les Bleus ultra-pragmatic, 'do just enough' style, but it won't matter a jot to players who, like their manager, value outcomes more than processes.

What they hope will happen

A celebratory dinner with Emmanuel Macron, late-night jigging around the Henri Delaunay Trophy and Griezmann showing off a hastily-sprayed tricolor hairstyle on the open-top bus parade.

What will happen

Either they lose an all-time ripsnorter of a semi-final to England, prompting a prolonged introspection and clamour for Zizou, or, more likely, they exorcise ghosts from 2006 and 2016 by beating Portugal in a Berlin belter. Incroyable!

Kits

Home

This feels truly French (and we mean that as a compliment). It's bright, with Tricolor piping and a golden badge at the very heart. As much as France should look oh-so-cool in deeper shades, there's something nostalgic about this shirt that we just adore.

The France Euro 2024 home kit can be picked up at Nike.

Away

Pinstripes were the order of the day as long ago as the 80s when the French wore a white away shirt with red and blue lines all over. It's the same this time: only the lines converge from one side to the other to form the French flag. C'est très belle.

Nike sells the France Euro 2024 away kit.

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