The ridiculous XI of France's World Cup absentees

Goalkeeper: Benoit Costil (Bordeaux)

Costil has had a long career in Ligue 1, playing with Caen, Rennes and Bordeaux, but he has only ever played one game for France, and finds himself behind Mandanda, Lloris and Areola in the pecking order.

Left-back: Lucas Digne (Barcelona)

Although he plays for La Liga champions Barcelona, Digne has only managed 12 league appearances this season, and is beaten by the likes of Benjamin Mendy to the French squad, despite the City defender's lack of game-time this season.

Centre-back: Mamadou Sakho (Crystal Palace)

Sakho is one of the rocks in the Crystal Palace defence, and was once PSG's captain, however he has played only 20 times this season due to injury.

Centre-back: Aymeric Laporte (Manchester City)

Incredibly, Manchester City's €65m defender doesn't even make France's reserve list, despite the fact that he is the second most expensive defender of all time. Samuel Umtiti, Raphael Varane and Presnel Kimpembe are all favoured to the Manchester City man.

Right-back: Mathieu Debuchy (Saint-Etienne)

Debuchy has recently returned to France from Arsenal, joining Saint-Etienne. Unfortunately for the right-back, he is not in Didier Deschamps' plans.

Midfield: Adrien Rabiot (PSG)

PSG's central midfielder has played 49 times for the French champions this year, including 8 Champions League appearances, and 5 goals and 7 assists in all competitions. This is still not enough for him to impress the French coach, however.

Midfielder: Moussa Sissoko (Tottenham)

Sissoko was one of the stars of the tournament at Euro 2016, earning himself a move to Tottenham. However, despite making 47 appearances for Spurs this term, he misses out thanks to the quality provided by the likes of Paul Pogba, N'Golo Kante and Blaise Matuidi.

Attacking midfielder: Dimitri Payet (Marseille)

When the OM captain came off in tears in the Champions League final, it was pain on two levels for the midfielder. His injury prevented him from seeing out the clash with Atletico Madrid, but it also means that he isn't fit enough for the World Cup.

Forward: Anthony Martial (Manchester United)

It's been a tough year for Martial. The Manchester United man is not Jose Mourinho's favoured option up front, and now it seems Deschamps doesn't favour him either, despite his 11 goals and 9 assists.

Forward: Alexandre Lacazette (Arsenal)

The attacking options left out of the France squad are truly frightening. Alongside Martial, Arsenal's Lacazette is another top quality forward who isn't even in France's top 23 players.

Forward: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)

The Madrid striker's struggles with the French side are well documented, and it seems clear that is through personal issues, and not lack of merit, that Benzema is sidelined from the national set up. Nonetheless, it is remarkable that a man starting regularly up front for Real Madrid isn't utilised by France.