Soccer-France's Kone in for injured Tchouameni for Paraguay World Cup clash


Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup 2026 - Round of 16 - Paraguay v France - Philadelphia Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. - July 4, 2026 France's Manu Kone arrives at the stadium before the match REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

PHILADELPHIA, July 4 (Reuters) - ⁠France coach Didier Deschamps made one change to ⁠the team who beat Sweden 3-0 in the ‌previous round, bringing Manu Kone into midfield in place of the injured Aurelien Tchouameni for Saturday’s World Cup last-16 clash against Paraguay.

• Tchouameni ​is out with amuscle problem, assistant ⁠coach Guy Stephan said.

• "He ⁠has a slight muscle issue in the adductor area, ⁠although ‌it is a somewhat broader area. He picked it up in training and will receive ⁠treatment and a few days’ rest. It is ​difficult to ‌say today (Saturday) how long that will be, but we ⁠all hope ​it will not be for long," Stephan said.

• "A return for the quarter-finals? It is possible. But time is also ⁠against us, with a potential match ​in five days."

• Kone will be paired with Adrien Rabiot behind France's four-pronged attack.

• Paraguay line up in a likely ⁠5-4-1 ultra-defensive formation.

• Winners face Morocco in Boston on July 9.

Teams:

Paraguay - Orlando Gill; Juan Jose Caceres, Gustavo Gomez (captain), Gustavo Velazquez, Omar Alderete, Junior Alonso; Miguel Almiron, Diego ​Gomez, Andres Cubas, Matias Galarza; Julio ⁠Enciso

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

(Writing by Julien Pretot in New York; Editing by Ken Ferris aznd Toby Davis)

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