Now we have official confirmation of each and every squad at the World Cup this summer, here are the PSG representatives over on the other side of the Atlantic
Upon the conclusion of Saturday’s UEFA Champions League final win over Arsenal for PSG, the attention and consciousness has now swiftly turned to this summer’s FIFA World in North America.
There will be an awful lot of PSG representation at the finals, with as many as 15 players from Luis Enrique’s side set to be in action over on the other side of the Atlantic.
The players off to the USA, Canada and Mexico are as follows; Lucas Hernandez, Warren Zaire-Emery, Desire Doue, Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembele (France), Willian Pacho (Ecuador), Achraf Hakimi (Morocco), Nuno Mendes, Vitinha, Joao Neves and Goncalo Ramos (Portugal), Fabian Ruiz (Spain), Ibrahim Mbaye (Senegal), Kang-in Lee (South Korea), and Marquinhos (Brazil).
As for squad numbers, only Doue and Mbaye will wear the same number, with 20. For the rest of the French, Hernandez will be 21, Zaire-Emery 18, Dembele 7, and Barcola 12. For the Portuguese, Ramos will wear 9, Neves 15, Vitinha 23 and Mendes 25.
Meanwhile, Hakmi will wear 2 for Morocco, Lee 19 for South Korea, Ruiz 8 for Spain, Pacho 6 for Ecuador, and Marquinhos 4 for Brazil.
This is an awful lot of players for one side. And it could have been more, too. Lucas Chevalier had been a main stay in recent France squads, being part of the set up as recently as the March international break. He made his debut for the national team last summer, but manager Didier Deschamps could simply not overlook the fact he has not played a game for PSG since January.
Meanwhile, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's Georgia unfortunately did not qualify for the tournament, having finished below Spain and Turkey in their qualifying group. Nevertheless, this can be no such bad thing for PSG. For the first time since joining the club, the winger will get a prolonged rest, and can come back recharged next season, after another brilliant season in 25/26.
All the very best of luck to all of the PSG players representing their nations this summer. It feels like there is a very good chance that at least one will return to the French capital with the trophy, considering there are players in the France, Spain and Brazil squads, as well as potential dark horses such as Morocco and Ecuador.
Whatever happens, please just return without any knocks or injuries. As long as that happens, fans will be relatively happy. Let's see.
