Didier Deschamps will rest Désiré Doué for France’s friendly against Côte d’Ivoire next Thursday at 21:10, meaning the 20-year-old will not line up opposite his brother Guéla Doué.
Deschamps has been training the France squad at Clairefontaine since Friday and plans not to use his French internationals who start the Champions League final for PSG and Arsenal, a precaution aimed at avoiding overload before the national team’s first 2026 World Cup preparation match.
The immediate effect is straightforward: Désiré Doué, 20, who is expected among PSG’s starting attackers for Saturday’s final alongside Ousmane Dembélé and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, will be spared the trip to the pitch against Guéla Doué, 23, the Côte d’Ivoire starting right-back.
The decision also reflects how little those PSG forwards have actually played together. The PSG starting attackers from the 2025 Champions League final against Inter have accumulated only seven minutes together so far this season, an argument for limiting further wear before national duty.
On paper this would have been a clean matchup: Désiré could have started on the left side of France’s attack while Guéla occupies the right of Côte d’Ivoire’s defence. That sibling confrontation — a talking point and a rare human angle to a friendly — will not happen because Deschamps prefers to protect players coming off a major club assignment.
Practical selection questions follow. Deschamps can call on alternatives to partner Kylian Mbappé and Michael Olise: Rayan Cherki or Marcus Thuram are in line to fill an attacking role against Côte d’Ivoire, and Maxence Lacroix and Jean-Philippe Mateta are due to join the France camp on Saturday after their side lifted the UEFA Conference League.
There is a second, unresolved workload issue inside the France group. Lucas Hernandez, Warren Zaïre-Emery and Bradley Barcola start on the bench for Luis Enrique against Arsenal, and if Warren Zaïre-Emery and Bradley Barcola are introduced early in that match, they could also be spared for France’s Côte d’Ivoire friendly five days later.
Deschamps, known around the camp by his nickname, has been explicit in protecting players he expects to start Saturday’s club final; resting Désiré removes one selection drama but opens another about how far that protection will extend across the squad.
The next fixtures are clear: France faces Côte d’Ivoire next Thursday at 21:10, then Northern Ireland on Monday 8 in Lille, before flying to its base camp in Boston; the key outstanding question is whether Deschamps will apply the same rest policy to other French internationals who see minutes against Arsenal. That decision will shape France’s first matchday choices and who actually takes the field next week.
