France Squad Announcement: Camavinga, Aouar and Upamecano in as Pogba misses out

 

Didier Deschamps has handed Eduardo Camavinga, Houssem Aouar and Dayot Upamecano their first senior France call-ups ahead of next month's UEFA Nations League matches.

 

France face Sweden and their opponents from the 2018 World Cup final, Croatia, in the space of three days at the start of September as they kick off their UEFA Nations League campaign.

 

Deschamps has named a 23-man squad for France's first set of fixtures in nearly 12 months, with Premier League duo Paul Pogba and Tanguy Ndombele missing out after testing positive for COVID-19.

 

Ndombele was unlikely to make the squad after a miserable maiden season with Tottenham but Pogba's absence has handed Rennes teenager Camavinga his first opportunity to make an impression on the France senior squad.

 

Camavinga, who helped inspire Rennes into the Champions League last season, has been heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid this summer after a breathtaking maiden campaign at the age of 17. A return of 4.2 tackles per game ranked second in Europe's top five leagues in 2019/20.

 

 

Both Aouar and Upamecano are also worthy of their first call-ups after helping Lyon and RB Leipzig, respectively, to the Champions League semi-finals last season. Aouar, who is tipped to leave Lyon this summer, ranked third for dribbles per game (4.4) in Europe's elite competition, while Upamecano was the best WhoScored rated centre-back.

 

Elsewhere, Deschamps has rewarded Anthony Martial's impressive end-of-season form with a recall after more than two years out of the picture. The 24-year-old finished last season with 17 goals in the Premier League - his best ever return in a single campaign. Blaise Matuidi's move to MLS, meanwhile, appears to have called time on his international career.