The French team, world champions, took up residence Wednesday evening at their hotel in Doha, encouraged by the songs of at least 200 supporters who came to welcome them six days before their entry into the running at the World Cup.
The Blues, with Karim Benzema and Raphaël Varane still on the sidelines of the group, carried out their first training session on Thursday in front of noisy supporters.
They will begin next Tuesday against Australia the defense of their title won in 2018 in Russia.
Here are the first images of the French team in Qatar.
Directed by:
Olivier JUSZCZAK
The French football team, reigning world champions, landed at Doha airport on Wednesday six days before their World Cup debut in Qatar.
Les Bleus, who had taken off Wednesday morning from the Paris region, set foot on the tarmac at Doha airport around 7:30 p.m. local time, or about 5:30 p.m. Paris time.
The coach of the Blues, in blue-white-red colors, crossed around 8:45 p.m. local time (6:45 p.m. in Paris), without stopping, the large entrance arch of the Al Messila hotel, a five-star establishment in the west of Doha where the world champions will spend the entire competition.
In front of an important security device, they were supported, on their arrival, by the songs of at least 200 supporters, mainly residents, of various nationalities (Lebanese, Indians, French).
The best organized and most noisy were a few dozen Indians, equipped with flags, drums and other tricolor trumpets, members of the group “French Football Fans Club India”.
"When I came to the France team, I did the job," highlighted Thursday Olivier Giroud, 36 and ready for his third World Cup to help Didier Deschamps "when he needs it".
The French were able to smell the perfume of the World Cup with more than 200 journalists and photographers present to watch the first training session.
The French team carried out its first training session on Thursday in front of noisy supporters, mainly guests from the French Lycée Bonaparte in Doha.
On the edge of the field, the president of the French Football Federation Noël Le Graët spoke at length with Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, president of PSG since the arrival of the Qatari sovereign fund in 2011 in the French capital.
Spared since the start of the rally on Monday, Benzema and Varane carried out exercises (sprints, changes of direction, tonicity work, etc.) separately under the direction of physical trainer Cyril Moine.
Before concluding their program with sheathing, push-ups and stretching.
The big scare of the day was given to us by Olivier Giroud who collapsed on the ground following a harmless recovery!
But ultimately more fear than harm for the French striker.
Recent history can scare the Blues: the three previous reigning champions all fell in the first round of the following World Cup, whether Italy in 2010, Spain in 2014 and Germany in 2018. But that does not does not seem to scare Kylian Mbappé!
The Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, estimated on Friday on
RMC / BFMTV
that wearing an inclusive armband was "not a closed subject" for the Blues because FIFA "has not yet pronounced".
At the beginning of the week, revived on the subject on the sidelines of an interview with AFP at the Clairefontaine training center, the captain of the reigning world champions, Hugo Lloris, had swept away doubts: "No, no", he will not wear this armband in Qatar after leaving uncertainty hanging over the press conference earlier.
This Friday, the new leader of the midfielder of the Blues with the package of Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kanté, Adrien Rabiot said he was "able to show the example" at the World Cup-2022, which he approaches "grateful and not as a "revenge" after his absence in 2018. The Blues will begin next Tuesday against Australia the defense of their title won in 2018 in Russia.
Blues
World Cup 2022
Slideshow
France football team
Karim Benzema
Kylian Mbappe
Olivier Giroud
Qatar