France’s XI minus PSG stars is still absolutely incredible

Setembro 28, 2026 lojamais44@gmail.com

France have some of the best strength in depth in international football and can also boast the best club team in Europe right now after PSG’s back-to-back Champions League wins.

But what would the national team look like if they weren’t allowed to pick anyone to play for PSG, past or present?

Spoiler alert: still pretty strong. PSG have amped up their focus on French recruitment in recent times – see the likes of Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue and Maghnes Akliouche in their current squad.

But there’s been so much quality emerging from the country, that Les Bleus would still be able to field a strong side without any dependence on their domestic champions…

GK: Guillaume Restes

France’s current number one, Mike Maignan, never played for PSG’s first team, but did come through their academy and play more than 40 times for their reserves. So that’s him out.

The battle to become Maignan’s successor for France is still wide open. There’s current PSG keeper Lucas Chevalier, but he hasn’t been the most convincing.

In the current squad, the one to watch is probably Restes. Still only 21, this is his fourth season as Toulouse’s regular starter in Ligue 1.

Restes is yet to be capped at senior level by France, but has played 19 times for them at under-21 level and nine at under-23 level.

RB: Jules Kounde

One of the more familiar faces now and Kounde can keep his place as a France starter by virtue of only ever playing for Bordeaux, Sevilla and Barcelona.

Ironically, he was actually born in Paris, but grew up in the south west of France.

Originally a centre-back, Kounde is now a right-back and has more than 50 caps to his name, including a start in the 2022 World Cup final.

CB: William Saliba

Saliba was on the losing side to PSG in the Champions League final a few months ago, but already had a Premier League title to celebrate with Arsenal. Silver linings.

Deemed to be one of the most valuable centre-backs in the world, Saliba has been an Arsenal regular for four years now.

He made his France debut in March 2022 – a few months before his competitive Arsenal debut, as he was still on loan at Marseille then.

CB: Dayot Upamecano

Never mind not playing for PSG, Upamecano hasn’t even played for a French club in his senior career.

After playing in the Valenciennes academy, he headed over to Austria to start out with Liefering, the feeder club of Red Bull Salzburg, in turn the sister club of RB Leipzig. And that was the career path he followed.

Upamecano got his big move in 2021, a year after his France debut. Bayern Munich were the takers and he remains there to this day.

LB: Adrien Truffert

Truffert earned his second senior cap for France on Friday, four years to the day since his first.

After a promising first season in the Premier League with Bournemouth, Truffert has European football on offer this term.

He seems in a good position to take over from the likes of Lucas Digne and the Hernandez brothers in the France setup.

Digne and Lucas Hernandez both play for PSG now, so wouldn’t have got in this XI anyway.

CM: Aurelien Tchouameni

Season number five as a Real Madrid player is underway for Tchouameni, who only played for Bordeaux and Monaco in Ligue 1.

He’s played in two World Cups since he left French football at club level and is closing in on 200 appearances for Madrid.

CM: Eduardo Camavinga

Camavinga has been at Madrid a year longer than Tchouameni, moving there in 2021 from Rennes.

He missed out on a place in France’s World Cup squad this summer, which was seen as one of the more surprising omissions.

Didier Deschamps put his absence down to injury issues and competition, but Camavinga is back in the squad with Zinedine Zidane now in charge.

RW: Michael Olise

One of the best players in the world right now, Olise’s pathway to the top hasn’t been the most conventional.

He spent time in the academies of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City, but it was at Reading that he made his breakthrough.

After taking the step up to Crystal Palace in his stride, Olise earned a move to Bayern Munich in 2024, the same year he made his debut for France.

AM: Rayan Cherki

After six seasons with Lyon, Cherki earned his move to Manchester City last summer.

It was a decent debut season in the Premier League for the playmaker, who’s started this season pretty well too.

Cherki only made his France debut last year, but was a member of their World Cup squad.

LW: Esteban Lepaul

Ligue 1’s top scorer last season – which he started with Angers but spent mainly with Rennes – Lepaul was recently rewarded with his France debut at the age of 26.

Lepaul only stepped up to the top flight in 2024 with Angers. He was a Lyon academy product who had to work his way up the leagues before getting his chance and running with it.

And yes, he’s more of a striker than a winger, but PSG have hogged a lot of the main French wide men recently: Dembele, Doue, Akliouche, Bradley Barcola and so on. Lepaul will do.