Pogba and Kanté in one team or France unbeatable

Paul Pogba is banned for 4 years and N’Golo Kanté is playing in Saudi Arabia. If anyone can regret the career decline of this duo, it is the French national team. The aforementioned duo won their country the World Cup in Russia, helped their country to the final fight in the Nations League, but they won’t get any more milestones.

Paul Pogba

Paul Pogba made his debut for the France senior national team in 2013. He was 20 years and 7 days old at the time, an age when most players are in the U21 national team. He played his very first game against Georgia in the starting lineup and a full one at that. The black mark on the initial national team meeting was the exclusion in the very next qualifying match against Spain.

Pogba saved his debut goal for the very next national team meeting, when he was unable to play against Georgia due to a previous suspension, but he played against Belarus and helped his teammates to a 4:2 win with his goal. The young Frenchman was one of the biggest stalwarts of the national team from the very beginning.

At the World Cup in Brazil and at the European Championship at home, Pogba was already one of the biggest stars of the team and, of course, one of the highlights of the championship. In the unfortunate defeat in the Euro final to Portugal, the skilful midfielder played the entire match, including extra time. He had to wait another two years for the joy of victory.

But at the World Cup in Russia, everything worked out. The team of France handled the whole tournament brilliantly and went all the way to the gold medals. However, the French national team was not well viewed by many, especially Manchester United fans, as Pogba performed better for the national team than he did for their beloved club.

N ´Golo Kanté

Kanté had to wait for his national team debut. His invitation came only during a fantastic season with Leicester City. Thus, the tireless midfielder did not make his national team debut until 2016, when he was 24 years old. However, he scored his debut goal in the very second game.

If there is anything Didier Deschamps can regret, it is not fielding Kanté for the final match against Portugal. The running midfielder remained only on the bench for the entire match, from where he watched the losing effort. At the World Cup in Russia, the experienced coach did not make a similar mistake and Kanté and Pogba dominated the tournament.

Kanté’s victorious joy in the Nations League was thwarted by Covid-19, who knocked the midfielder out of the final duels. The former Chelsea player’s last start dates back to March 6, 2022, when he came on in a losing match against Denmark.

Pogba and Kanté have never lost together

If anything worked in the French national team, it was the combination of these two midfielders. Pogba was given more freedom than he was given at Manchester United thanks to Kanté’s great physical tools, and he repaid Deschamps with great performances.

Together Pogba and Kanté started 31 games, 22 of which ended in a win, the other 8 in a draw. Of course, losing a penalty shootout in the last European Championship counts as a draw. So a great era in the French national team is over.

Source: UEFA, Transfermarkt