France withdrew Bradley Barcola from the international squad due to an alleged right hamstring injury. However, PSG has denied the player is unfit, pointing to his appearance in their recent Ligue 1 fixture.
Paris Saint-Germain have intensified their ongoing dispute with the French Football Federation (FFF) regarding the injury status of forward Bradley Barcola, who was called up for France’s next two international matches.
Initially, the FFF stated that the player sustained “a right hamstring injury” after the Parisian club’s Ligue 1 match on September 17, and that the national coach had called up Florian Thauvin as his replacement.
The player reported to the national team’s training camp at Clairefontaine to prepare for the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers against Azerbaijan next Friday and Iceland on Monday, but arrived with a medical certificate from his club.
The issue is that Barcola started the league match PSG played last weekend against Lille, leaving the field in the 59th minute without apparent injury symptoms, and with no club announcement to that effect.
“The information published in the Federation’s press release does not align whatsoever with the medical information provided by PSG’s medical staff,” the capital club stated in a press release.
It added that the information conveyed to the national team did not report an injury after the specific match mentioned, and criticised the FFF for publicly releasing medical information about the player.
This new disagreement between PSG and the national team follows another dispute a month prior, concerning injuries to Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue.
At that time, PSG had stated it provided the FFF with information regarding the medical condition of both players before the match against Ukraine.
Both players were fielded in that match, and their ailments worsened, according to the club, which urgently called for “a more transparent and collaborative medical-sports coordination protocol between clubs and the national team, prioritising player health.”