Pogba leads France squad for Euro 2016 as Schneiderlin and Ben Arfa miss out

Paul Pogba heads up France’s 23-man squad for Euro 2016, with Nice star Hatem Ben Arfa and Manchester United midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin the most notable absentees in Didier Deschamps’ selection.

The France boss has opted to give Leicester City’s N’Golo Kante the nod instead, while West Ham ace Dimitri Payet is also included.

Deschamps has also decided to leave out Sevilla striker Kevin Gameiro and Lyon forward A
00000F39
lexandre Lacazette, with Tigres UANL’s Andre-Pierre Gignac receiving an invitation instead.

Eliaquim Mangala and Jeremy Mathieu have made the cut in defence, while promising youngsters Kingsley Coman and Anthony Martial have both been included, too, following their fine performances for Bayern Munich and Manchester United, respectively.

The France boss had previously revealed that Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema would not go to Euro 2016 after he was charged with complicity in an attempt to blackmail and participating in a criminal conspiracy as part of an investigation into a sex-tape plot involving international team-mate Mathieu Valbuena.

Valbuena, meanwhile, has been snubbed following his underwhelming performances at club level and Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho will miss out following a positive doping test.

France meet Albania, Switzerland and Romania in Group A, kicking off the tournament against the former on June 10.

Squad in full:

Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham), Steve Mandanda (Marseille), Benoit Costil (Rennes)

Defenders: Lucas Digne (Roma), Patrice Evra (Juventus), Christophe Jallet (Lyon), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Eliaquim Mangala, Bacary Sagna (Manchester City), Jeremy Mathieu (Barcelona), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid)

Midfielders: Yohan Cabaye (Crystal Palace), Lass Diarra (Marseille), N’Golo Kante (Leicester), Blaise Matuidi (PSG), Paul Pogba (Juventus), Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle)

Attackers: Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich), Andre-Pierre Gignac (Tigres), Olivier Giroud (Arsenal), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Anthony Martial (Manchester United) Dimitri Payet (West Ham)

Standby: Alphonse Areola (Villarreal), Hatem Ben Arfa (Nice), Kevin Gameiro (Sevilla), Alexandre Lacazette (Lyon), Adrien Rabiot (PSG), Morgan Schneiderlin (Manchester United), Djibril Sidibe (Lille), Samuel Umtiti (Lyon)