With the amount of World Class players they have in absolutely every position on the pitch, it’s not hard to see why France are high odds favorites to go the distance in this summer’s World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada. With an attacking line consisting of superstars like Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise, Rayan Cherki, Marcus Thuram and Bradley Barcola among others, there’s plenty of reason to believe they’ll have no shortage of finding goals throughout the tournament.
Didier Deschamps Les Bleus side did fall 2-1 to the Ivory Coast in a tune-up friendly in Nantes, though the French were still without their Paris Saint-Germain stars that won the Champions League last weekend. While it might have been a historic result for the Ivorians, there’s absolutely no need for the French to ring the alarm bells as they still bossed possession and registered more shots on target, led by a goalscoring performance from Manchester City’s Cherki after he had missed an open goal chance early on.
The City attacker is coming off of an impressive campaign of 10 goals and 15 assists as they went on the win the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, falling just shy of Arsenal in the Premier League. He’s in a star-studded attack at both City and the French national team and he recently spoke about the chemistry he has on the pitch in the French setup with Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise, who is also coming off of an incredible season.
“Playing with Michael is amazing. We understand each other without even having to speak. He knows I can drift to the right or the left, and it’s the same with him. When he moves inside, I don’t want to get in his way – that can open up space elsewhere on the pitch. We have a natural understanding of the game, and it’s wonderful to be out there on the pitch together,” Cherki enthused to French outlet TFI (via @iMiaSanMia). from France’s training camp at Clairefontaine.
For the senior French squad, the friendly loss to Ivory Coast was only the fifth time Cherki and Olise have been in the squad together and only the second time the pair of been on the pitch together for at least 45 minutes, the last of which coming in their last World Cup 2026 qualifier — a 4-0 win over Ukraine. Of course, they know each other well from the French U-21 setup, where they played together a total of six times before they moved on to the senior squad, so they’ll certainly be a pair to watch this summer.
If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…
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