With a place in the semifinals of the 2026 World Cup at stake, France are playing against Morocco in a rematch of the previous edition, but Bradley Barcola is not in the starting lineup.
The reason Barcola isn’t starting against Morocco is because Didier Deschamps has chosen Désiré Doué instead. This has been the only spot in doubt during the competition for the manager, as Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and Michael Olise are certain starters.
Even though the talented Paris Saint-Germain winger has been the winger for France, his teammate Doué has rotated with him and has often replaced him during matches.
The replacement
While the attack has been France’s main strength, they didn’t display their best performance against Paraguay. It was precisely Barcola who struggled to make an impact before being substituted.
Doue was important a few days ago (Buda Mendes/Getty Images)
That substitution proved to be crucial in France’s 1-0 victory over Paraguay because Doué entered the field with much better pace on a day when he looked very difficult to stop whenever he had the ball on the left flank.
see also
Why isn’t Aurelien Tchouameni starting for France against Morocco at the 2026 World Cup?
It was such an important impact that Doué was the player who changed the match when he dribbled into the penalty area from the left before being brought down for a penalty. After the referee reviewed the play on the monitor, the penalty was confirmed and Mbappé converted it.
Doué’s minutes
That position has been the one Deschamps has rotated the most during the competition. Doué will make his third start after previously starting the victories over Senegal and Norway, scoring one goal. He then came off the bench in the other three matches against Iraq, Sweden and Paraguay.
