France's Euro 2024 Squad: Didier Deschamps' Shock Recall

Didier Deschamps, the coach for France, announced his selection of 25 players for Euro 2024 during a live television broadcast on Thursday evening. The major talking point is the comeback of N'Golo Kante.

Kante, celebrated his 33rd birthday in March and has not represented France for nearly two years. A serious injury led to him missing most of the 2022/23 club season, ruling him out of the World Cup in Qatar. However, he has regained full fitness this season playing for Al Ittihad in Saudi Arabia.

Kante, a former Chelsea player, was a member of the French team that won the 2018 World Cup, and had earlier reached the Euro 2016 final in his debut international tournament.

Kylian Mbappe leads the team as captain, and Olivier Giroud, 37, who is moving to LAFC from Europe in July, will be looking to increase his record as France's top scorer of all time.

A good portion of the group is identical to the team that went to Qatar in 2022. However, this will be the first time that Warren Zaire-Emery and the debutant Bradley Barcola will be part of a senior tournament.

Goalkeepers: Alphonse Areola (West Ham), Mike Maignan (AC Milan), Brice Samba (Lens)

Defenders: Jules Kounde (Barcelona), Jonathan Clauss (Marseille), Benjamin Pavard (Inter Milan), Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool), William Saliba (Arsenal), Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich), Theo Hernandez (AC Milan), Ferland Mendy (Real Madrid)

Midfielders: Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid), Youssouf Fofana (Monaco), Adrien Rabiot (Juventus), Warren Zaire-Emery (Paris Saint-Germain), Aurelien Tchouameni (Real Madrid), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), N’Golo Kante (Al Ittihad)

Forwards: Bradley Barcola (Paris Saint-Germain), Ousmane Dembele (Paris Saint-Germain), Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich), Olivier Giroud (AC Milan), Randal Kolo Muani (Paris Saint-Germain), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain), Marcus Thuram (Inter Milan)

France has scheduled friendly warm-up matches with Luxembourg and Canada in Metz and Bordeaux respectively before heading over to Germany for the competition. They are due to debut against Austria in Group D on June 17, and will also play against the Netherlands and Poland.

As the runners-up in the 2022 World Cup, France are seen as one of the competition's biggies. However, it's been a while since Les Bleus won the European Championship – the last time was in 2000 when Deschamps, as a player, held the trophy himself.