Varane back in central defence for France against Denmark

DOHA, Nov 26 (Reuters) – Raphael Varane will start at centre back for France against Denmark in their Group D clash at the World Cup on Saturday after fully recovering from a hamstring injury.

Varane will pair up with Dayot Upamecano while Jules Kounde is taking over from Benjamin Pavard on the right side of the defence.

Aurelien Tchouameni and Adrien Rabiot start in midfield with Antoine Griezmann in support of the offensive trio of Ousmane Dembele, Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud.

For Denmark, coach Kasper Hjulmand is replacing injured midfielder Thomas Delaney with Mikkel Damsgaard, and Andreas Cornelius gets the nod up front as Kasper Dolberg drops to the bench.

Teams:

France – Hugo Lloris, Jules Kounde, Raphael Varane, Dayot Upamecano, Theo Hernandez, Adrien Rabiot, Aurelien Tchouameni, Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele, Olivier Giroud, Kylian Mbappe

Denmark: Kasper Schmeichel, Joachim Andersen, Victor Nelsson, Andreas Christensen, Rasmus Kristensen, Pierre Hojbjerg, Christian Eriksen, Joakim Maehle, Jesper Lindstrom, Andreas Cornelius, Mikkel Damsgaard

Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Hugh Lawson

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