France Prepares Best Formation to Face Ivory Coast

The French national team stepped up their preparations ahead of the 2026 World Cup by holding a friendly match against Ivory Coast led by Emerse Faé on Thursday at the Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes. After this match, Les Bleus are scheduled to play again on Monday in Lille against Northern Ireland.

The French coach, Didier Deschamps, is expected to apply the 4-2-3-1 formation which is his mainstay by fielding four attacking players from the start. William Saliba, the Arsenal defender, will not feature due to a back problem, but there is no doubt about his participation in the World Cup.

As a replacement for Saliba, Deschamps is likely to field Ibrahima Konaté, his former teammate at RB Leipzig, who is now on a free transfer after leaving Liverpool. In the wing-back position, Malo Gusto from Chelsea and Théo Hernandez from Al-Hilal are predicted to fill that position.

In midfield, Aurélien Tchouaméni and Adrien Rabiot will act as a double pivot. On the front lines, Rayan Cherki will function as an attacking midfielder between Michael Olise and Marcus Thuram, while Kylian Mbappé will be the spearhead.

L'Equipe reports that Deschamps plans to make up to 10 substitutions during the match to even out the team's workload, meaning the five PSG players who only arrived in Clairefontaine on Tuesday after their Champions League win, should get some minutes.