French team: Warren Zaire-Emery, the radical decision

France manager Zinédine Zidane refuses to deploy Paris Saint-Germain player Warren Zaire-Emery as a full-back despite a national team shortage at the position. Although Luis Enrique has regularly utilized Zaire-Emery on both flanks for PSG this season, Zidane maintains that the player remains strictly a midfielder in his squad for the November Nations League matches against Italy and Turkey.

Manu Tournoux notes that France faces major defensive absences, with Jules Koundé and Pierre Kalulu withdrawn through injury. Rather than shifting Zaire-Emery to right-back, Zidane called up Malo Gusto and 21-year-old Saël Kumbedi, emphasizing that national team selectors should use positional specialists rather than mimicking club versatility.