Last match, last surprises: Deschamps shakes up his team against England
For his final match in charge of France, Deschamps confirms a big rotation against England, with Kanté's tournament debut expected.
Hours before the third-place match against England, Didier Deschamps confirmed in a press conference that his France side would be heavily rotated compared to the semi-final defeat to Spain.
"I'm going to rotate": Deschamps confirms wholesale changes
The head coach made no secret of his plans:
- "I'm going to rotate"
- "Some players can't [play], and there are also other reasons, which I understand, that will lead me to make choices"
- "The only important thing is that no one plays as a default choice"
Kanté's long-awaited return
N'Golo Kanté, who had not played a single minute so far in the tournament, is being tipped as one of the biggest surprises of this rotation, alongside several other players who have seen little game time.
A chance for the fringe players
Among the players named in the squad for this match, several could benefit from the reshuffle: Warren Zaïre-Emery, Mohamed-Amine Akliouche, Rayan Cherki, Marcus Thuram, Désiré Doué, Malo Gusto, Ibrahima Konaté and Brice Samba are among the options available to the head coach.
A special farewell match
This match marks Deschamps' final game in charge of Les Bleus. As he put it himself: "This will be the final curtain, but it's not a meaningless match." Kick-off is set for 11:00pm Paris time at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.
