Real Madrid superstar, Kylian Mbappé leads France out against Ukraine tonight in their first match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Softfootball reports.
Oleksandr Zinchenko, who just joined Nottingham Forest on loan from Arsenal will be leading the charge of Ukraine in a game that would be played in Poland due to the unrest in their home country.
Although, it looks like a neutral venue, it promises to be an interesting encounter with both countries looking to score early points on board in Group D that also includes Iceland and Azerbaijan.
Interestingly, Hugo Ekitike, who joined Liverpool from Frankfurt this summer and made a flying start to the season with three goals in three matches for the Reds earned himself a call up to the France squad but only good enough to start from the bench tonight.
France manager, Didier Deschamps has decided to go with trusted hands in Mbappe upfront alongside Desire Doue and Michael Olise in a game that an early three points sets the tone for a fine World Cup qualification campaign.
France shared their starting XI via their official X handle.
France starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Maignan (GK); Kounde, Upamecano, Konate, Digne; Tchouameni, Kone; Olise, Doue, Barcola; Mbappe
France has not missed qualifying for the Mundial since 1994 and have only lost once against Ukraine in 12 meetings. So, they would go into this encounter with super confidence of coming out victorious.
Sergiy Rebrov will hope his Ukraine side cause an upset tonight as he will be expecting solid performances from the duo of because Illia Zabarnyi and Vitaliy Mykolenko as they are set to reach 50 caps for their country.
Ukraine starting lineup (4-5-1): Trubin (GK); Konoplya, Zabarnyi, Matviyenko, Zinchenko; Zubkov, Yarmoliuk, Kalyuzhnyi, Sudakov, Hutsuliak; Dovbyk
France are without Arsenal’s William Saliba and Manchester City’s new signing Ryan Cherki due to injuries. But they are still formidable and rated massive favourites for the three points tonight.
