France coach Didier Deschamps has named his 23-man squad and eight reserves for next month's European football Championship in France.
Deschamps picked Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud on Thursday for his 23-man squad for the European soccer championship - of which France is the host nation - naming in-form Nice forward Hatem Ben Arfa - who is enjoying his most successful season to date - only as a reserve.
Alongside Giroud, the squad includes a further nine Premier League players, including Leicester’s N’Golo Kante and West Ham’s Dimitri Payet, fresh from successful league campaigns.
Deschamps has until May 31 to present his final squad to football's European body UEFA.
FULL SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur), Steve Mandanda (Olympique Marseille), Benoit Costil (Stade Rennes)
Defenders: Raphael Varane (Real Madrid), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Eliaquim Mangala(Manchester City), Jeremy Mathieu (Barcelona), Patrice Evra (Juventus), Bacary Sagna(Manchester City), Lucas Digne (AS Roma), Christophe Jallet (Olympique Lyon)
Midfielders: Paul Pogba (Juventus), Blaise Matuidi (Paris St Germain), Lassana Diarra(Olympique Marseille), N'Golo Kante (Leicester City), Yohan Cabaye (Crystal Palace), Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle United)
Forwards: Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Dimitri Payet (West Ham United), Anthony Martial (Manchester United), Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich), Olivier Giroud (Arsenal), Andre-Pierre Gignac (UANL Tigres)
Reserves: Alphonse Areola (Villarreal), Hatem Ben Arfa (Nice), Kevin Gameiro (Sevilla), Alexandre Lacazette (Olympique Lyon), Adrien Rabiot (Paris St Germain, Morgan Schneiderlin(Manchester United), Djibril Sidibe (Lille), Samuel Umtiti (Olympique Lyon)
WHO’S MISSED OUT?
Karim Benzema will miss the tournament after a ban for his involvement in an alleged blackmail scandal was upheld by the French federation last month.
The Real Madrid forward was suspended indefinitely last December after being put under formal investigation by a judge for alleged blackmail over a sex video involving France team mate Mathieu Valbuena, who was also left out of the squad announced on Thursday.
WILDCARD
Mexican club UANL Tigres’ Andre-Pierre Gignac will seem a slightly off-beat choice to some. The former Marseille forward has made a total of 25 international appearances since 2009 and was recalled to the squad last November after Benzema’s fall from grace. But with competition from players such as Griezmann, Martial and Coman, it’s hard to imagine Gignac would get much time on the pitch.
SOCIAL MEDIA REACTION HOW COULD FRANCE START EURO 2016?
30 May: France v Cameroon (warm-up match)
4 June: France v Scotland (warm-up match)
10 June: France v Romania (Euro 2016, Group A)
15 June: France v Albania (Euro 2016, Group A)
19 June: Switzerland v France (Euro 2016, Group A)
ODDS
To win Euro 2016: 10-3
With additional reporting from Reuters
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