Monaco star Mbappe given maiden France call-up

Kylian Mbappe will look to take his free-scoring Monaco form on to the international stage after being called into the France senior squad.

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 quarterfinals 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 U-21 defender and Paris Saint-Germain centre-back Presnel Kimpembe.

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 sits top of Group A in the European qualifiers for Russia 2018, with its position unlikely to come under threat when it travels 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 :

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).