France manager Didier Deschamps has confirmed that Manchester United defender Raphael Varane will be available for their World Cup opener against Australia on Tuesday evening.
The centre-back, who played a key role in helping Les Blues win the tournament in Russia back in 2018, suffered a hamstring injury during United's 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last month. He landed awkwardly when trying to rob the ball off the toes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, resulting in him almost being in tears on the pitch, obviously thinking that his World Cup hopes were over.
But although United manager Erik ten Hag confirmed that he would miss all of the Reds' remaining fixtures ahead of the World Cup starting, he did reveal that there was a good chance of the former Real Madrid man being fit enough to compete in Qatar.
READ MORE: Cristiano Ronaldo has given Erik ten Hag the chance to prove Jurgen Klopp right
"He will be out, certainly until the World Cup so he will not play in this block for Manchester United," said Ten Hag, speaking last month. "I think [he can play at the World Cup] but the prognosis we have to wait."
Varane, despite the uncertainty, was included in France's 26-man squad for the tournament and arrived in Qatar earlier this week with his teammates. He has been working on an individual training programme, confirmed on Thursday when he trained away from the main group alongside Karim Benzema, who has since unfortunately been ruled out of the tournament.
However, Varane is in contention to feature against Australia on Tuesday, handing France a huge boost, considering they have been battered with bad luck on the injury front in the last few days.
"Raphael Varane was working hard in training," Deschamps said. "He will be available for our first game against Australia."
The defender, who has been outstanding for United so far this season, started each of France's seven matches at the last World Cup and sported the captain's armband in their final group game against Denmark. He also played five times at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
READ NEXT:
