Presnel Kimpembe to miss 2022 World Cup, Axel Disasi replaces him

The defender picked up an injury and is now ruled out a few days before the start of the tournament.

Presnel Kimpembe will not be playing at the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup. The tournament in Qatar will see France defend their title after winning it in Russia four years ago. However, they will be without the services of the Paris Saint-Germain defender who was not able to recover from his injury and join the rest of the squad.

Les Bleus are also missing players such as Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante due to injury. This will certainly make it more challenging for them to defend their title. Having said that, national team manager Didier Deschamps has a lot of quality players at his disposal. The tactician has also called up Borussia Moenchengladbach striker Marcus Thuram to the team.

Replacement

AS Monaco’s Axel Disasi will be Presnel Kimpembe’s replacement. The 24-year-old will hope to make the best of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and represent his nation with pride at the World Cup in Qatar. He has played 23 matches for the French club across all competitions. Interestingly, Disasi has never played for the senior national team.

France is in Group D of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. They are grouped together with Tunisia, Australia and Denmark. The outfit will try to become the first team to defend the World Cup trophy since Brazil in 1962. Hugo Lloris will be captaining the team once again.

Full Squad

Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris, Steve Mandanda, Alphonse Areola

Defenders: Lucas Hernandez, Theo Hernandez, Axel Disasi, Ibrahima Konate, Jules Kounde, Benjamin Pavard, William Saliba, Raphael Varane, Dayot Upamecano

Midfielders: Eduardo Camavinga, Youssouf Fofana, Matteo Guendouzi, Adrien Rabiot, Aurelien Tchouameni, Jordan Veretout

Forwards: Karim Benzema, Kingsley Coman, Ousmane Dembele, Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe, Christopher Nkunku, Marcus Thuram.