He was beaten out by Benjamin Pavard by the narrowest of margins, and there would have been no drop-off if he had to step into the starting lineup. Sidibe showed what a reliable player he is at right back during France’s shutout of Denmark.
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He had a scary moment on a Christian Eriksen free kick, but recovered brilliantly to smother the ball, and never looked under threat otherwise. With France having clinched a spot in the knockout round ahead of their final group stage game, Mandanda got the start against Denmark and kept a clean sheet. But Lemar provides a great compromise option, with some defensive work rate and ball retention, but plenty of technical ability and creativity as well. Extremely attacking option Ousmane Dembele started the opener, while Blaise Matuidi and Corentin Tolisso started the matches where Didier Deschamps wanted a defensive left winger. Lemar never really got a chance to shine because of his manager’s philosophy. Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images 19. He might have been a backup defender, but he’s a first choice poster and is dominating the hat game. Theo Hernandez beat him out for the starting left back job simply because injury kept him from playing regularly for Manchester City last season, but Mendy will be an important player for France in the future. He was only kept out by the unrelenting brilliance of Kylian Mbappe. Following a superb 26 goal season for Marseille, just about any team in the tournament would have been thrilled to have him. Florian ThauvinĪ last-place ranking is harsh on Thauvin, who was an 89th minute substitute in one game. They probably would have done well if called upon. Rami’s been a rock-solid starter in Europe for 12 years and Areola turned in some big performances for Paris Saint-Germain last season. Only two France players didn’t see the pitch during their campaign, their fourth center back and third goalkeeper. Without further ado, here’s what every single France player contributed. This is one of deepest top-to-bottom teams to ever compete at a World Cup, and the only bad thing you can say about Les Bleus’ bench is that they weren’t quite as good as the superstars in front of them. Every single player on their World Cup-winning squad deserves some praise, and they’re going to get it here. Most rankings include insults or detractions of some kind.