France face Morocco in the first quarter-final tie at World Cup 2026 today, with Aurelien Tchouameni not involved from the start.
The Real Madrid midfielder suffered a groin injury in training following the round-of-32 win over Sweden and ended up missing last week’s 1-0 last-16 defeat of Paraguay.
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Les Bleus boss Didier Deschamps turned back to Roma’s Manu Kone as a partner in the pivot for Adrien Rabiot for a tense and feisty victory in Philadelphia secured by Kylian Mbappe’s second-half penalty.
France have been hoping to get vice-captain Tchouameni - who is poised to sign a new contract at the Bernabeu - back for a quarter-final meeting with Morocco in Boston, with suggestions that he could resume training on the eve of the game.
“I don’t have all the information yet,” Deschamps said when asked about the player’s fitness on Wednesday.
“Aurelien is better, but I left early this morning. He’s the only one who needs to be seen, but he’s doing better. He might participate in the training session today. All other players are available.”
With Tchouameni unable to start against Morocco, Kone and Rabiot will continue as the midfield pairing for favourites France.
Deschamps has largely stuck with the same side that began the gritty win over Paraguay, with Mike Maignan continuing in goal.
Jules Kounde, Dayot Upamecano and William Saliba are all stalwarts in defence, with Ousmane Dembele and Michael Olise keeping their places in attack alongside Mbappe.
The only positions that have changed for France during this World Cup other than midfield are left-back and left wing, where Lucas Digne and Bradley Barcola appeared to have cemented themselves ahead of Theo Hernandez and Desire Doue.
However, Doue has replaced his Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Barcola against Morocco.
France have failed in their attempts to get Olise’s yellow card against Paraguay rescinded, meaning he will miss the semi-finals if he picks up another and Les Bleus progress.
The same is also true of Kone and Barcola, with cautions not wiped for the second time at this expanded tournament until after the quarter-finals.
CONFIRMED TEAM NEWS
France XI: Maignan; Kounde, Upamecano, Saliba, Digne; Kone, Rabiot; Dembele, Olise, Doue; Mbappe
Substitutes: Samba, Risser, Gusto, Konate, T.Hernandez, L.Hernandez, Lacroix, Tchouameni, Kante, Zaire-Emery, Cherki, Akliouche, Thuram, Barcola, Mateta
Time and date: 9pm BST today, July 9, 2026
Venue: Boston Stadium
How to watch: ITV1
