William Saliba aggravated a back injury during the 120 minutes of Arsenal's UCL (UEFA Champions League) final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain 1. ESPN sources then reported him very doubtful for the World Cup. France head coach Didier Deschamps countered that "everything's fine" after Saliba reported to Clairefontaine, the national training centre, and described the scans as reassuring.
Deschamps named his final 26 on 14 May with Saliba as the spine of the defence, and the two public accounts of his fitness have not since been reconciled. The injury arrived afterwards, in a club final Saliba could not be rested from. Neither version has been retracted, and Deschamps has not said whether the centre-back will start, be managed across the group, or be replaced.
FIFA's injury-replacement rule, the same cutoff now binding Canada over Marcelo Flores this week, would let France swap Saliba out shortly before its first match if the team doctor and FIFA's medical officer agree, with Ibrahima Konaté the most natural like-for-like cover. Deschamps has called Saliba monitored rather than cleared. Saliba's case sits alongside Flores and Neymar as a third squad in this window losing players faster than it is confirming them, except here the uncertainty is not the injury but the silence around its severity.
