Deschamps keeps faith in PSG's Chevalier for friendlies in US

PARIS — France coach Didier Deschamps has retained Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier for next week’s friendlies in the United States despite the 23-year-old not having played a competitive match since late January.

Chevalier, demoted to third-choice at PSG behind winter signing Matvey Safonov, was nevertheless included in the 26-man squad announced Thursday for meetings with Brazil on March 26 in Foxborough and Colombia on March 29 in Landover. He will serve as the third keeper behind regular starter Mike Maignan and Brice Samba.

Deschamps conceded the situation is “not ideal” but stressed that past experience has taught him to maintain contact with players enduring difficult club spells.

“Since then, he has been in a more difficult situation, without playing time,” the coach noted. “Reaching out is also part of building a relationship of trust.”

In attack, Deschamps was forced into a change after PSG winger Bradley Barcola sprained his right ankle in Champions League action. Randal Kolo Muani, thriving on loan at Tottenham and fresh from scoring the opener in Spurs’ 3-2 round-of-16 win over Atlético Madrid, was promoted to keep the forward pool at nine players.

With the expanded 2026 World Cup on the horizon, Deschamps views the two-match U.S. tour as a final audition for many hopefuls.

“Many of those who are here today will still be there,” he said, referring to the provisional roster for this summer’s tournament hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada. “It’s still too early to draw any hasty conclusions, but we’ll stick to this approach.”

France will convene in Clairefontaine early next week before departing for the U.S., where they expect to fine-tune tactics and test squad depth ahead of the global showpiece in June.