With the captain’s armband briefly changing hands in Turkey on Friday, Ousmane Dembélé is now in line for a landmark night with France in Brussels.
The Ligue 1 news
The Paris Saint-Germain forward could captain the French national team from kick-off for the first time when Les Bleus face Belgium in the Nations League on Monday.
France are due to play in Brussels at 20:45, three days after their narrow 1-0 victory away to Turkey. Zinédine Zidane will decide whether Dembélé starts again, but the 68-cap international is next in the captaincy order following Kylian Mbappé’s absence.
Mbappé has been ruled out with a tendon injury in his left knee. His withdrawal leaves Dembélé as France’s most experienced available player in terms of international appearances.
Dembélé first wore the armband during Friday’s match after Mbappé left the field in the 59th minute. It was his first spell as France captain, although he later passed it to Adrien Rabiot when Estéban Lepaul replaced him in the 90th minute.
Rabiot has made 67 appearances for France and sits directly behind Dembélé in the current seniority ranking. Jules Koundé, with 57 caps, is the next vice-captain.
The next appointment in France
France travel to Belgium on Monday looking to follow their hard-earned win in Turkey with another Nations League result. If Dembélé is selected in the starting XI, the PSG attacker will lead the side out as captain for the first time in an international match.
