France head coach Didier Deschamps is focused on the present and not concerned by the future after calling up Olivier Giroud to replace Karim Benzema.
Giroud has not featured for Les Blues since their exit to Switzerland at Euro 2020 last June, but the 35-year-old has come back into contention after an injury to Benzema.
The Milan striker sits just five goals behind Thierry Henry in France's all-time scoring charts after netting 46 times in 110 games.
Though Giroud was omitted from Deschamps' recent squads, he now has a chance to impress in friendlies against Ivory Coast and South Africa.
Deschamps, speaking at Monday's news conference, was keen to turn the attention away from Giroud as he insisted the former Arsenal and Chelsea forward does not have to prove himself.
"The most important thing for me is to be consistent and fair in my speech with the players, whether it's Olivier or others," he told reporters.
"Olivier is going to join us, and he doesn't have to do more or less. He was part of this team that was successful, it was also without him, and he remains selectable, as I have always said.
"But don't ask me about the future. Of course, his presence is linked to Karim's injury. But there is no particular attention around him, he is part of the group."
Asked whether Benzema and Giroud could feature together down the line, Deschamps added: "It's not a question of relationships, there's competition, too, but it goes further than that.
"History shows it is always a great difficulty for a player who has a status that he deserved to have, to no longer have this status.
"It is very difficult to live with, not to say impossible. But it's human and it's not specific to Olivier. It's more complex. I did not call him to tell him that he will have 30 per cent playing time and see how he reacts.
"He can accept anything, it's only ten days, but again, I don't want to make a case apart, and there have been quite a few in this case.
"A player who has status needs to have an important role. I am convinced of that."
Arsenal's William Saliba, who is currently on loan at Marseille, has also been handed a late call-up after Bayern Munich's Benjamin Pavard withdrew.
"We have been following him for a while, I talk a lot with Sylvain Ripoll [France's Under-21 coach], who has known since the weekend, just in case," Deschamps said of Saliba.
"The schedule meant that William was playing last night [Sunday], so I waited until after the match to make his call-up official, but what he does in the Under-23s and for his club, in a system that is not identical but similar, is interesting.
"He is a good defender, fast, who has a good heading game, and exudes a lot of calmness in his play."
Deschamps stressed that France's upcoming friendlies are important, while he was glad to not be in the position of Portugal and Italy, who will battle for World Cup qualification in the play-offs.
"I know that many players have had very important matches before and will have very important ones after," he added. "It will be full in Marseille, full in Lille, and it is our duty to be efficient.
"You think that these two friendlies have little value, but I know very well that we have to win them, because otherwise, they will increase in importance.
"And I prefer to be in my place than in the place of my Italian and Portuguese counterparts. I am happy to be among the 14 nations that have already qualified [for Qatar]!"
Messi hits 800th goal and tells Argentina to milk their moment of World Cup fever
Lionel Messi struck the 800th goal of his remarkable career and lifted the World Cup trophy one more time in Buenos Aires, telling all of Argentina to enjoy this footballing prosperity while it lasts.
His landmark strike came in a 2-0 friendly win against Panama on Thursday at El Monumental, as Argentina played their first game since triumphing at Qatar 2022.
They showed off their World Cup spoils after the final whistle, with Messi addressing the crowd and saying it was a moment he had dreamt of throughout his life.
Messi, who turns 36 in June, delivered another inspired performance for his country, hitting the crossbar with two free kicks before sending another into the top corner in the 89th minute.
That brought up the 800 for club and country and sealed Argentina's win, after Thiago Almada bagged the opener in the 78th minute. It was also Messi's 99th goal for Argentina.
With a microphone in his right hand, and his left placed on the trophy, Messi told the crowd: "I want to thank you for all the love we are receiving, not just for winning the World Cup but from before, when we won the Copa America.
"I always dreamed of this moment, being able to celebrate with you in this country. Let's enjoy it because we spent a long time to win it, and because you don't know how long it will take until we win it again. Let's enjoy the third star."
Paris Saint-Germain's former Barcelona star won the Golden Ball at the World Cup for his efforts in captaining Argentina to glory. That is the trophy awarded to the player of the tournament.
Argentina won the World Cup previously in 1978 and 1986, with a 36-year wait coming to an end when La Albiceleste beat France on penalties in the December 18 final, after a 3-3 draw.
Messi will almost certainly have retired from international duty by the time the next World Cup rolls around in 2026, marking the end of a storied era.
He was keen to spread the latest acclaim throughout the Argentina ranks.
"I know that today is our day, but I don't want to forget all those colleagues I had before, who also did everything possible to get this one, and unfortunately it didn't happen to us, we were very close," he said. "They also deserve respect and recognition.
"We were going to do everything we could for this. I always dreamed of this moment, being able to come to my country and lift the World Cup. It was shown that it is very difficult to achieve this, it depends on many things. Sometimes due to small details it gets away from you.”
Argentina 2-0 Panama: Messi scores stunning free kick to bring up 800 career goals
A stunning attacking display from Lionel Messi highlighted a one-sided 2-0 home victory for Argentina in their friendly against Panama on Thursday.
The Paris Saint-Germain superstar was nearly moved to tears as his side were serenaded by the raucous El Monumental crowd in the World Cup champions' return to Buenos Aires.
He gave his fans an inspired performance, striking the crossbar with two free kicks before sending another into the top corner to bring up 800 goals in his storied career.
He joined Thiago Almada on the scoresheet after the Atlanta United forward scrambled home one of Messi's crossbar rebounds earlier in the second half.
Argentina piled on the pressure right from the first whistle, and their early dominance was almost rewarded when Messi's free kick cannoned off the crossbar in the 17th minute.
Less than 10 minutes later Rodrigo De Paul played a gorgeous ball through to Alexis Mac Allister, but Panama goalkeeper Jose Guerra made himself big and smothered the first-time attempt on the edge of the six-yard box.
Guerra rose the occasion once again in the shadows of half-time, denying a rocket bound for the top corner from Enzo Fernandez's boot to keep his side level through 45 minutes despite trailing 10-1 in the shot count and controlling only 27 per cent of the possession.
The Argentinian onslaught continued in the second half, with a Messi corner kick five minutes after the restart forcing a scrambling save from Guerra as it threatened to curl under the crossbar.
Another Messi direct free kick drew another save from Guerra, and he was there once again to deny Angel Di Maria from the resulting corner in what was shaping up as a Man of the Match performance from the Panama shot-stopper.
But he was denied a clean sheet as the hosts' dominance eventually paid off in the 78th minute, when another Messi free kick hit the crossbar, but this time Almada was in the right spot to force home the rebound for his first goal in an Argentina shirt.
A fourth free kick proved to be the charm for Messi, curling it over the wall and under the bar in the 89th minute to put an exclamation point on a spectacular individual performance.
Mancini hopeful Italy can tackle 'uphill climb' to Euro 2024 following England defeat
Roberto Mancini knows Italy face an "uphill climb" to qualify for Euro 2024 after they were beaten 2-1 by England but took heart from their second-half display.
Declan Rice opened the scoring and Harry Kane become England's outright record goalscorer with his 54th strike for his country from the penalty spot just before half-time in Thursday's Group C opener at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Argentina-born Mateo Retegui marked his debut with a goal to get the European champions back in the game and there was further hope for Italy when Luke Shaw was sent off in the 80th minute.
England held on to gain a measure of revenge for a defeat in the Euro 2020 final, securing their first away win over Italy since May 1961.
Gareth Southgate's side ended Italy's run of 40 European Championship qualifying matches without defeat, leaving the holders with work to do in order to return to a major tournament in Germany next year after missing out on the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Azzurri head coach Mancini said: "We knew it was going to be a difficult game, then we conceded two goals from two set-pieces; we should have been more careful.
"We dominated in the second half and probably deserved a draw. We're disappointed with the result but we still have a long way to go."
He added: "In the second half we managed to press better, higher and I saw a great team again: this gives us hope. England are always dangerous from set-pieces, but we shouldn't have conceded those two goals.
"We still managed to roll up our sleeves and play better. The road is a bit of an uphill climb now, but maybe it will finish more smoothly."
Mancini was encouraged by the impact Retegui made in the second half in Naples after the striker became the first player to open his Italy account while playing for a club based outside of Europe.
"Retegui has yet to get to know his team-mates and our movements as a team," Mancini said of the Tigre forward.
"In the first half, he had difficulties against the English defenders who are very strong physically, but he did better in the second half. He's young and I think he just needs a little time."
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