Alphonse Areola has been named in France’s 23-man squad for his country’s concluding UEFA Nations League A Group 1 fixtures with Austria and Denmark.
Didier Deschamps’ side head into their final two games of the 2022/23 Nations League bottom of the Group 1 table with just two points from their opening four matches.
Failure to win at least one of these two fixtures will see the FIFA World Cup holders relegated to League B ahead of kicking-off the defence of their trophy in Qatar in November.
Areola and Les Bleus will host Austria at the Stade de France in Paris on Thursday 22 September at 8.45pm local time (7.45pm in the UK), before travelling to Copenhagen to take on Denmark on Sunday 25 September at the same kick-off time.
The West Ham goalkeeper has three senior caps and was a member of Deschamps’ squad when France won the World Cup four years ago, but the 29-year-old has not played for his country since starting a 2-0 home friendly win over Bolivia in June 2019.
Despite that, Areola is expected to travel to Qatar, where France take on Australia, Denmark again, and Tunisia in Group D.
