SportsCatch
EN

Saliba still sidelined with back injury, ruled out for France in November

The Arsenal defender, absent since the World Cup semi-final against Spain, will not be available for France's final two Nations League matches in November. A return to training is targeted for mid-November.

1 min read
Saliba still sidelined with back injury, ruled out for France in November
Share

William Saliba will not play in France’s final two Nations League group-stage matches in November against Italy and Turkey. The Arsenal defender continues to suffer from chronic back problems that forced him off the pitch in the first half of the World Cup semi-final against Spain.

The French international is currently following a recovery programme set by Arsenal without undergoing surgery — an option that had been considered at the end of last season, when he pushed through the pain to help his club finish the campaign before competing in the World Cup. A return to training in mid-November is now the target, making his call-up by Zinédine Zidane mathematically impossible for this gathering.

This absence adds to that of Aurélien Tchouaméni, who has also been rested by the new manager for this first squad assembly. Zidane has also made significant changes to his squad, calling up six new players — Butez, Restes, Jacquet, Diouf, Da Cunha and Lepaul — while leaving out ten players who took part in the 2026 World Cup.

In Saliba’s absence, Zidane could rely on Maxence Lacroix or Jérémy Jacquet to occupy the central defence axis during November’s matches.

Share
{# Sitewide native fullscreen interstitial — our own bet-CTA card blown up to a takeover (replaces the SDK overlay). The shared card animations + countdown load once, AFTER the interstitial markup, so the countdown script's first tick sees this card's node too (the in-read card, in
above, already exists). One include covers both surfaces. #}