World Cup 2018: 3 players who should not be in France's 23-man squad

#1 Benjamin Mendy

Benjamin Mendy has not played enough minutes to justify his inclusion in the World Cup squad

With all due respect, Benjamin Mendy has all the traits a player needs to have in order to represent his nation at the World Cup. However, it's the scarce playing minutes under his belt this term for Premier League champions Manchester City that make him look like a doubtful choice for the tournament.

Astonishingly, the 23-year-old has played a paltry 452 minutes across all competitions this season; he was sidelined from September to mid-April following a serious knee ligament injury. Even following his return, he played just 62 minutes of football for City in three fixtures.

I'm not saying that he doesn't have what it takes to be in the national squad, but Deschamps should have gone for someone like Layvin Kurzawa - who has ample minutes under his belt and would be deserving of selection as a result. The PSG left-back has netted five goals and created another three in 28 games across all competitions, despite not playing as much as he would have liked to himself.

With all of that in mind, it remains to be seen if Benjamin Mendy can fulfil the expectations of his coach and fellow countrymen in Russia - particularly during the business end of the tournament, where pressure will be on.