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Footballing legend Thierry Henry unveiled the preliminary French squad for the upcoming Paris Olympics later in the year. Henry, France's U-21 coach, announced a 26-man roster which didn't include superstar Kylian Mbappe. Rather the squad saw the inclusion of veteran forward Alexandre Lacazette, who had an incredible season with Lyon.
Henry’s squad will get together in Clairefontaine on June 16 ahead of the Olympics, where the former Arsenal forward will have to select the final 18-player team by July 3. France will kick off their Olympic group stage against the United States on July 24, before playing Guinea on July 27 and New Zealand on July 30.
France Olympics preliminary squad for Paris Olympics 2024
Goalkeepers: Lucas Chevalier, Obed Nkambadio, Guillaume Restes, Robin Risser
Defenders: Bafodé Diakité, Mazime Esteve, Bradley Locko, Castello Lukeba, Kiliann Sildillia, Adrien Truffert, Leny Yoro
Midfielders: Maghnes Akliouche, Joris Chotard, Desiré Doué, Manu Koné, Enzo Millot, Khephran Thuram, Lesley Ugochukwu, Warren Zaïre-Emery
Attackers: Bradley Barcola, Arnaud Kalimuendo, Alexandre Lacazette, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Michael Olise, Mathys Tel
We’re trying to find ways to have certain players: Thierry Henry
During the announcement of the squad, Thierry Henry spoke about how certain clubs like Chelsea were hesitant about sending their players to the Olympic games. Henry said, "You have to know that it’s not easy to find yourself in a situation where you have to go and ask a certain club for permission to be able to take their players when you actually can’t ask for anything since they are within their right not to send since it’s not a FIFA date."
"When it’s already a FIFA date it’s hard, so there you go, we’re trying to find ways to have certain players and believe me it’s not easy," the former French international continued.
