Thierry Henry confirms France’s Olympic squad | OneFootball

France U23 manager Thierry Henry has confirmed his 18-man squad for the upcoming Olympic Games tournament, which will begin later this month.

Henry has had to contend with setbacks in his selection. Many clubs, including Real Madrid, Lille OSC, Arsenal and Aston Villa outright refused to free their players for the Paris Olympics. Players such as Kylian Mbappé, Eduardo Camavinga, and William Saliba, all of whom would have been chosen, will not participate.

The latest setback came last week as Khéphren Thuram pulled out. The midfielder is set to complete his move from OGC Nice to Juventus. His new club have decided to block Thuram from participating in the tournament, as is their right, with the Olympic tournament falling outside of the dates of the FIFA calendar.

The same does not go for Michael Olise, who will be able to compete, despite his recent move from Crystal Palace to Bayern Munich. Jean-Philippe Mateta has also left the squad, however, his absence is only temporary. He will return to the set-up in a week, following routine medical tests with his club, Crystal Palace.

As well as his 18-man squad, Henry has also named four reservists: Théo De Percin (AJ Auxerre), Andy Diouf (RC Lens), Chrislain Matsima (AS Monaco), and Lesley Ugochukwu (Chelsea).

The Olympic football tournament will take place between 24th July and 9th August. France will play their first match in Marseille, against the USA on 24th July.

France’s Olympic squad in full

Goalkeepers: Obed Nkambadio (Paris FC), Guillaume Restes (Toulouse FC)

Defenders: Loïc Badé (Sevilla), Bradley Locko (Stade Brestois), Castello Lukeba (RB Leipzig), Soungoutou Magassa (AS Monaco), Kiliann Sildillia (Freiburg), Adrien Truffert (Stade Rennais)

Midfielders: Maghnes Akliouche (AS Monaco), Joris Chotard (Montpellier HSC), Désiré Doué (Stade Rennais), Manu Koné (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Enzo Millot (VfB Stuttgart)

Forwards: Arnaud Kalimuendo (Stade Rennais), Alexandre Lacazette (Olympique Lyonnais), Jean-Philippe Mateta (Crystal Palace), Michael Olise (Bayern Munich), Rayan Cherki (Olympique Lyonnais)

GFFN | Luke Entwistle