Soccer-Barcola in, Doue out as Deschamps makes three changes to France team

Jun 21, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; France forward Bradley Barcola (12) during a training session in preparation for their upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup match against Iraq at University of Pennsylvania. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA, June 22 (Reuters) - ⁠France coach Didier Deschamps made three ⁠changes to the side that beat ‌Senegal in their World Cup opener for Monday's Group I clash with Iraq, bringing in Lucas ​Digne, Manu Kone and Bradley ⁠Barcola for Theo ⁠Hernandez, Aurelien Tchouameni and Desire Doue.

• Barcola ⁠comes ‌into the attack alongside Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Michael Olise ⁠after scoring off the bench against ​Senegal.

• Dembele ‌still trusted by Deschamps despite low-key ⁠first game.

• ​France will secure a place in the round of 32 with a victory

• Mbappe ⁠looking to keep pace with ​Lionel Messi, who moved to 18 World Cup goals earlier on Monday.

Lineups:

France: Mike Maignan; ⁠Jules Kounde, Dayot Upamecano, William Saliba, Lucas Digne; Manu Kone, Adrien Rabiot; Michael Olise, Kylian Mbappe (captain), Bradley Barcola; Ousmane Dembele.

Iraq: ​Ahmed Basil; Hussein Ali, ⁠Zaid Tahseen, Akam Hashim, Merchas Doski; Ibrahim ​Bayesh, Zidane Iqbal, Amir ‌Alammari, Zaid Ismael; Ahmed ​Qasem, Aymen Hussein (captain).

(Writing by Julien Pretot in New YorkEditing by Christian Radnedge)