France take on South Africa on Tuesday night in Lille for a friendly as other national teams battle for a place in the World Cup in Qatar at the end of the year.
Head coach Didier Deschamps is likely to send out a side shorn of familiar names such as Hugo Lloris, Raphael Varane and Karim Benzema who are missing through injury or - in the case of Lloris - to allow some game time to his goalkeeping bnack-up.
Mike Maignan will start the match at the Stade Pierre Mauroy - familar ground for the 26-year-old who spent six years with Lille and left for AC Milan after winning the 2021 French title.
"Maignan is progressing constantly," Deschamps told French broadcaster RMC. "He achieved things with Lille and he is capable of achieving things in Milan.
Chance
"These matches are the moment to see as many players as possible in action, and the goalkeepers are part of that."
Lloris was in the team that came from behind on Friday night in Marseille to beat Cote d'Ivoire 2-1.
Olivier Giroud and Aurélien Tchoumeni scored the goals for the hosts after Nicolas Pépé's first half opener.
Deschamps started Christopher Nkunku up front alongside Giroud after Kylian Mbappé was ruled out with an ear infection.
The 23-year-old Paris Saint-Germain striker is slated to start in Lille and will be under scrutiny after refusing to pose for publicity shots for France team sponsors.
Stance
His refusal has prompted a debate over the use of players' images.
"In essence, Kylian has a point," said Varane. "There are things to change and improve. How that is done is up for discussion and the federation is open to talks. What he did hasn't affected the group. We're concentrating on the matches."
France will go to Qatar as defending champions. The last time they entered a World Cup with that status, the campaign ended in disaster.
They were eliminated after the group stages in 2002.
Redemption nearly came with a suge to the 2006 final where they were beaten by Italy.
Four years later in South Africa, there was an ignominious exit after the group stages during which Nicolas Anelka was expelled from the squad, players boycotted a team training session.
South Africa beat France 2-1 to dispatch Raymond Domenech's side from the tournament.
Lloris is the sole survivor from the nadir. Barring injury or a spectacular loss of form, the 35-year-old will skipper the side in Qatar.
Berths
In Europe on Tuesday night, Poland take on Sweden and Portugal face North Macedonia for two of the three places left for the first World Cup in the Middle East.
In African qualifiers, five slots will be decided. Egypt will nurse a 1-0 lead over Senegal - the team who beat them in the Africa Cup of Nations final in Cameroon in February.
Elsewhere, Algeria hold a 1-0 advantage over Cameroon and Tunisia enjoy the same margin over Mali.
Morocco and Democratic Republic of Congo are tied at 1-1 and the game between Nigeria and Ghana in Abuja will start at 0-0.
"Ghana played very well in the first-leg," said Nigeria coach Augustine Eguavoen.
"They're no pushovers. They're a team that we respect and they respect us. We created chances but didn't take them. That's what we'll have to correct."
