Upamecano leaves France squad for personal reasons after Italy defeat

Dayot Upamecano left the France team camp on Friday for “personal reasons”, with the approval of manager Zinedine Zidane. The Bayern Munich centre-back returned directly to Munich and will not be replaced numerically in the squad before the match against Turkey on Sunday evening in Bordeaux (20:45).

His departure comes after a difficult night at San Siro, where France lost 3-1 to Italy in the Nations League. Starting in the right side of the central defence alongside Jérémy Jacquet, Upamecano played the entire match but was regularly troubled in duels and imprecise in his passing. He conceded a penalty in the 75th minute, converted by Pio Esposito for Italy’s decisive goal.

This latest absence adds to an already significant injury list for Zidane during this international break. Even before the squad assembled, the French staff had to manage without Ousmane Dembélé, Marcus Thuram, Pierre Kalulu and Maghnes Akliouche. There is also uncertainty surrounding Kylian Mbappé, who was rested against Italy due to a physical issue. “I hope he will be ready for Sunday. That was the plan, for him to rest today and have the possibility to play Sunday,” the manager said in a press conference Thursday evening.

To compensate for Upamecano’s absence against Turkey, Zidane has two natural alternatives in central defence among the 22 remaining players: Leny Yoro and Ibrahima Konaté. The latter, in fine form at Real Madrid, appears to be the logical favourite to partner Jérémy Jacquet in the centre of defence.