Fans of AS Monaco may find themselves quite miffed at the absence of Ligue 1 football this weekend. However, all is not lost, as one Monaco star Wissam Ben Yedder will continue to provide football entertainment throughout this week with France’s national team, as they take on the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

On March 18, the French National Team manager, Didier Deschamps, announced his squad for the qualifying fixtures of the 2022 Qatar World Cup. Wissam Ben Yedder is the only Monaco player to make the list, as the Frenchman joins France’s most elite players, including the likes of Barcelona’s Antoine Greizmann and Manchester United’s Paul Pogba.

The caption reads “The 26 Blues selected to start Qualifying for the 2022 World Cup! #ProudofourBlues”

The French national squad kicked-off what is a very busy week with their first collective training session in 2021 at the National Institute of Football in Clairfontaine on Monday, March 22, just two days before their first qualifying fixture.

On Wednesday, March 24, France will face off against Ukraine at 20:45 CET. This fixture will be followed by clash with Kazakhstan on Sunday, March 28 at 15:00 and a fixture against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday, March 31 at 20:45.

The French national team re-emerged as a dominant force in world football in 2018, when Les Bleus soared to victory in the 2018 World Cup Final against Croatia. In 2022, the global champions of football will be looking to defend their title, and that journey begins now.

Featured image courtesy of @WissBenYedder on Twitter