France provisional squad for Brazil 2014 World Cup

France coach Didier Deschamps has named his provisional 23-man French squad for the Brazil 2014 World Cup.

Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur), Steve Mandanda (Marseille), Mickael Landreau (Bastia).

Defenders: Mathieu Debuchy (Newcastle), Lucas Digne (Paris St-Germain) Patrice Evra (Manchester United), Laurent Koscielny, Bacary Sagna (both Arsenal), Eliaquim Mangala (Porto), Mamadou Sakho (Liverpool), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid).

Midfielders: Yohan Cabaye, Blaise Matuidi (both Paris St-Germain), Clement Grenier (Lyon), Rio Mavuba (Lille), Paul Pogba (Juventus), Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle), Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille).

Forwards: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Olivier Giroud (Arsenal), Antoine Griezmann (Real Sociedad), Loic Remy (Newastle, on loan from QPR), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich).

Squad harmony

Samir Nasri has been left out of the squad, a decision that has sparked some reactions. For instance, former French team-mate of Nasri, Patrick Vieira, has criticised the decision saying that Nasri has had a good season in Manchester City and deserves a place on the national team.

Deschamps has defended his squad selection by saying that he is not picking the 23 best players, but instead picking the best squad. When you take into account that internal drama seems to follow France and affect their performance, it seems like a good decision to build a harmonious team instead of simply the best individual players.

Betting on France for the world cup

France to win the group is pretty low priced at 1.80. We are more interested in the odds of 3.10 for France to finish second, and France to reach the final seems like an interesting bet too. See below for details of the early bets we find worth mentioning: