France's Aurelien Tchouameni not in Starting XI vs. Paraguay
July 3, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.; France's Aurelien Tchouameni with teammates during training. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-Imagn Images France midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni is out of manager Didier Deschamps's starting XI for Saturday's round of 16 clash with Paraguay with a reported groin issue.
Meanwhile, Paraguay will see center back Omar Alderete return to manager Gustavo Alfaro's back five after missing the round of 32 with a knee injury.
Tchouameni has played in three of France's four matches, going the full 90 minutes in all three of his appearances. According to French sports newspaper L'Equipe, he left Friday's training session early.
In the Real Madrid midfielder's absence, Manu Kone and Adrien Rabiot were manning the double-pivot for Deschamps. Rabiot has played 270 minutes and Kone logged 180. Deschamps has rotated most of his squad during the tournament.
Alderete suffered his injury in Paraguay's group stage finale against Australia. He missed the dramatic win over Germany on penalties last Monday and had not participated in full team training most of the week, Alfaro said Friday.
--Field Level Media
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