FEELING BLEU
France World Cup squad: Anthony Martial and Alexandre Lacazette dropped as Didier Deschamps selects his 23-man party
Les Bleus are one of the favourites for Russia 2018 but face a tricky group that includes Australia, Denmark and Peru
ALEXANDRE LACAZETTE and Anthony Martial were snubbed as Didier Deschamps named his 23-man France squad.
And there is no place for Dimitri Payet, who limped out of Marseille's Europa League final defeat to Atletico Madrid in tears last night.
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The squad contains a five-man contingent of Premier League stars, with Tottenham keeper Hugo Lloris set to skipper the side.
Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy makes the cut despite an injury-ravaged season, as do Chelsea duo N'Golo Kante and Olivier Giroud plus Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba.
Both Martial and Lacazette are named as two of 11 reserves – along with Crystal Palace defender Mamadou Sakho, Chelsea centre-back Kurt Zouma and Spurs midfielder Moussa Sissoko.
Incredibly, Arsenal flop Mathieu Debuchy – now at St Etienne – is also named as back-up.
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Real Madrid striker Benzema is sidelined by Deschamps, as he has been since before Euro 2016 over his alleged involvement in the Mathieu Valbuena sex tape scandal.
France are without defender Laurent Koscielny, who suffered a major Achilles injury in Arsenal's Europa League semi-final against Atletico.
Les Bleus are one of the favourites for Russia 2018 but face a tricky group that includes Australia, Denmark and Peru.
Martial and Lacazette appear to have paid the price for their inconsistent club form, with Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger failing to give either a lengthy run of starts.
FRANCE'S WORLD CUP SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Alphone Areola (Paris St Germain), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham), Steve Mandanda (Marseille)
Defenders: Lucas Hernandez (Atletico Madrid), Presnel Kimpembe (Paris St Germain), Benjamin Pavard (Stuttgart), Benjamin Mendy (Manchester City), Djibril Sidibe (Monaco), Adil Rami (Marseille), Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid)
Midfielders: Blaise Matuidi (Juventus), N'Golo Kante (Chelsea), Steven N'Zonzi (Sevilla), Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Corentin Tolisso (Bayern Munich)
Forwards: Olivier Giroud (Chelsea), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Kylian Mbappe (Paris St Germain), Thomas Lemar (Monaco), Nabil Fekir (Lyon), Florian Thauvin (Marseille), Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona)
Reserves: Wissam Ben Yedder (Sevilla), Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich), Benoit Costil (Bordeaux), Mathieu Debuchy (Saint Etienne), Lucas Digne (Barcelona), Alexandre Lacazette (Arsenal), Anthony Martial (Manchester United), Adrien Rabiot (Paris St Germain), Mamadou Sakho (Crystal Palace), Moussa Sissoko (Tottenham), Kurt Zouma (Chelsea).
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Lacazette looked hungry as Arsenal chased Europa League glory at the end of the season.
But he scored just 14 Prem goals – failing to live up to the £55million price tag the Gunners paid to land him from Monaco last summer.
Martial appears set to leave United after another season in which Mourinho has not appeared to trust him.
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The former Monaco forward scored just 11 goals in 44 outings, with United's boss starting him in just 18 Prem games.
The Group C favourites start their campaign against Australia in Kazan on the third day of the tournament on June 16.
Five days later they face Peru in Yekaterinburg ahead of a June 26 clash with Denmark in Moscow.
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France topped a tough European qualifying group that included Sweden, Netherlands and Bulgaria – winning seven matches and drawing two.
Their only defeat in ten matches came when ex-Sunderland loanee Ola Toivonen grabbed an injury-time winner on their trip to Sweden.
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Les Bleus were knocked out at the quarter-final stage with a 1-0 defeat to Germany at Brazil 2014.
The 1998 winners lost the 2006 final in Germany on penalties to Italy and will be desperate to avoid a repeat of their 2002 and 2010 campaigns, where they failed to get out of the group.
Paul Pogba and the France squad celebrate Antoine Griezmann's birthday in style
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