Didier Deschamps Unveils France’s 2026 World Cup Squad With 763 Selections

Didier Deschamps unveiled the France list for the Coupe du monde 2026 on Thursday 14 May, with 26 players totaling 763 sélections and an average of 29,35 sélections per player.

“With all 48 World Cup squads now confirmed, we look at how they shape up and compare with each other leading into the tournament”

BBC

The FFF’s breakdown says the captain Kylian Mbappé is the most capped on the list with 96 sélections and the top scorer with 56 réalisations, while 15 of the 26 have already scored for the Équipe de France for a total of 96 buts.

BBC

The same FFF figures place the squad’s club mix with 8 players from Ligue 1 McDonald's (Risser, Samba, L. Hernandez, Zaïre-Émery, Akliouche, Barcola, Dembélé and Doué) and 7 from the Premier League (Digne, Gusto, Konaté, Lacroix, Saliba, Cherki and Mateta).

Experience is also quantified: 15 of the 26 had taken part in the Euro 2024, 11 in the Coupe du monde 2022, and 9 in the Euro 2020, with four champions du monde 2018 listed as L. Hernandez, N'Golo Kanté, Ousmane Dembélé and Kylian Mbappé.

Le Figaro adds that the France squad includes four 2018 World Cup champions—Lucas Hernandez, N’Golo Kanté, Ousmane Dembélé and Kylian Mbappé—and that Didier Deschamps retained 15 of the players who were at Euro 2024.

With the World Cup 2026 squads confirmed for all 48 countries, Sky Sports says teams had to register a team of between 23 and 26 players, including three goalkeepers, by Tuesday June 2.

Sky Sports also states that only players named in these squads will be eligible to take part, although they can be replaced by a player from the provisional squad in the event of a serious injury or illness, no later than 24 hours before their team's first match at the World Cup.

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For Group A, Sky Sports lists Mexico with Carlos Acevedo (Santos Laguna), Guillermo Ochoa (AEL Limassol) and Raul Rangel (Chivas) as goalkeepers, and it names Javier Aguirre as manager.

For South Africa in the same group, Sky Sports lists Ronwen Williams (Mamelodi Sundowns), Ricardo Goss (Siwele) and Sipho Chaine (Orlando Pirates) as goalkeepers, with Hugo Broos as manager.

Olympics.com frames the overall tournament context by saying a record 48 teams will compete and that each team can name up to 26 players, including three goalkeepers, in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

Beyond squads, L'Essentiel de l'Éco quantifies the World Cup 2026 prize pool as $727 million, with $655 million as prize money distributed on sporting merit, and it says the champion will receive $50 million while the runner-up gets $33 million.

“Tim Payne spent much of his career as one of New Zealand soccer’s most dependable players, quietly building a reputation through consistency rather than headlines”

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It also describes how bonuses flow through national federations rather than directly to players, noting that in 2022 the FFF communicated a redistribution rate of 30% of the FIFA allocation for the benefit of the players and staff.

For France specifically, Le Figaro reports that the France team heads to America with an average age of 26.4 years and that the oldest player is N’Golo Kanté (35), while it lists Kylian Mbappé as having already scored 12 goals in World Cup finals, including four in 2018 and eight in 2022.

Outside the pitch, Ouest-France says Panini will market its biggest album in history with 980 stickers and 112 pages for the World Cup next June in North America, and it cites British financial expert Kieran Maguire estimating the total cost would exceed €2,000.

Ouest-France adds that Maguire estimates the exchange system could reduce the total cost by about 7, putting it between €215 and €250, while it also notes the album itself is listed on Panini’s site for pre-order at €3.50.