Lizarazu excludes Rabiot and Cherki from his ideal XI for the 2026 World Cup

Bixente Lizarazu has decided: Adrien Rabiot and Rayan Cherki should not feature in France’s starting XI for the opening match of the 2026 World Cup on June 16 against Senegal. The 1998 World Cup winner laid out his choices on the Téléfoot programme, two days before France’s final friendly against Northern Ireland on Monday evening in Lille.

In midfield, Lizarazu prefers to pair Manu Koné with Aurélien Tchouameni rather than line up Rabiot. “Rabiot is a safe bet, Zaïre-Emery had a great season, but I think Manu Koné has risen very, very high,” he explains, praising the progression of the AS Roma player. A bold choice that relegates a regular fixture in Didier Deschamps’ setup to the bench.

In defence, the TF1 pundit goes even further by excluding Ibrahima Konaté and Théo Hernandez. “Konaté at the moment is shaky, so the Saliba-Upamecano partnership seems obvious to me,” he explains. On the left flank, he prefers Lucas Digne, arguing that Théo Hernandez “has not rediscovered his fire,” the kind of form shown by Nuno Mendes or Achraf Hakimi in his view.

In attack, Lizarazu backs Michael Olise in the number 10 role behind Kylian Mbappé, flanked by Ousmane Dembélé and Désiré Doué. Rayan Cherki, who failed to convince the pundit, remains on the bench. “The problem is we have so many attackers that we don’t know how to rotate them,” he acknowledges, while arguing for fluid attacking play without fixed positions.

This debate comes as France are on the back of a friendly defeat to Ivory Coast (1-2) last Thursday in Nantes. The match against Northern Ireland represents the last opportunity for Deschamps to refine his certainties before heading to the United States.

Bixente Lizarazu’s ideal XI for the 2026 World Cup: Maignan – Koundé, Upamecano, Saliba, Digne – Tchouameni, Koné – Dembélé, Olise, Doué – Mbappé.