This Sunday, the French national team will play Azerbaijan in a 2026 World Cup qualifier at 6:00 PM CET at the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium. Ahead of the match, Le Parisien and L’Equipe have attempted to predict the starting lineup that coach Didier Deschamps will field. Four Paris Saint-Germain players, all French, are involved: Lucas Chevalier, Lucas Hernandez, Warren Zaïre-Emery, and Bradley Barcola. Only Hernandez is expected to start.
Le Parisien (4-4-2) –
Ekitike – Mateta
Nkunku – Thuram – Zaïre-Emery – Akliouche
T. Hernandez – L. Hernandez – Konaté – Gusto
Chevalier.
L’Equipe (4-4-2) –
Ekitike – Mateta
Nkunku – Thuram – Zaïre-Emery – Akliouche
T. Hernandez – L. Hernandez – Konaté – Gusto
Chevalier.
All the major media outlets agree, and national team coach Didier Deschamps is less prone to surprises than PSG coach Luis Enrique, so we expect a very similar lineup. Especially since the rotation was announced in the press conference. They didn’t specify which players would be rotated, except for Lucas Chevalier. But we can generally guess. Particularly for PSG.
There are still some doubts, including the formation, with a possible 4-2-3-1 that could include Florian Thauvin.
