KAZAN -- Didier Deschamps will drop Olivier Giroud and Blaise Matuidi for France's opening World Cup game against Australia on Saturday in Kazan, sources have told ESPN FC.
Deschamps has decided to start Ousmane Dembele and Corentin Tolisso instead and the two youngsters played with the rest of the starters against the substitutes during a training session behind closed doors on Wednesday.
Sources said that the coach believes Tolisso's technical ability will be more useful against Australia than Matuidi's work rate, while he likes how Dembele combines with Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann up front.
Deschamps will also drop his two first-choice full-backs for the game as Benjamin Mendy and Djibril Sidibe are not 100 percent fit. Instead, France will play with Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez at right and left-back -- only their seventh and sixth caps for France respectively.
Les Bleus will line up in a 4-3-1-2 formation to face Australia with Griezmann in a new deeper No. 10 role behind Mbappe and Dembele.
Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kante will partner Tolisso in midfield, while Raphael Varane and Samuel Umtiti will complete the back four in front of goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, the captain, who will represent his country for the 99th time on Saturday.
The starting XI will be the youngest for France at a World Cup since 1930, with an average of 24-years-old and 6 months.