Monaco star Mbappe given maiden France call-up

Teenage Monaco striker Kylian Mbappe has been rewarded for his prolific form with a maiden call-up to France's senior squad for the matches against Luxembourg and Spain this month.

The 18-year-old opened the scoring as Monaco beat Manchester City 3-1 at the Stade Louis II on Wednesday, helping the Ligue 1 club progress to the Champions League quarter-finals via the away-goals rule after a thrilling tie ended 6-6 on aggregate.

It was Mbappe's 11th goal in his past 11 appearances in all competitions and he comes into Didier Deschamps' squad having represented France at Under-17 and Under-19 level.

Mbappe's team-mate, 22-year-old left-back Benjamin Mendy, joins his colleague in being called up for the first time, as does fellow France Under-21 defender and Paris Saint-Germain centre-back Presnel Kimpembe.

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Lyon midfielder Corentin Tolisso and Marseille's on-loan Newcastle United forward Florian Thauvin will also have the opportunity to press for international debuts after being rewarded by Deschamps for impressive domestic form, although there is no place for Tolisso's club-mate Alexandre Lacazette.

France sit top of Group A in the European qualifiers for Russia 2018, with their position unlikely to come under threat when they travel to minnows Luxembourg in the forthcoming round of fixtures before hosting Spain in a friendly at the Stade de France on March 28.

 

France squad in full:

Goalkeepers: Alphonse Areola (PSG), Benoit Costil (Rennes), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham)

Defenders: Presnel Kimpembe (PSG), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Layvin Kurzawa (PSG), Benjamin Mendy (Monaco), Adil Rami (Sevilla), Bacary Sagna (Manchester City), Djibril Sidibe (Monaco), Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona)

Midfielders: N'Golo Kante (Chelsea), Thomas Lemar (Monaco), Blaise Matuidi (PSG), Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Dimitri Payet (Marseille), Adrien Rabiot (PSG), Corentin Tolisso (Lyon)

Forwards: Ousmane Dembele (Borussia Dortmund), Kevin Gameiro (Atletico Madrid), Olivier Giroud (Arsenal), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Kylian Mbappe (Monaco), Florian Thauvin (Marseille).

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