William Saliba has said he has been playing through pain for several months but the Arsenal defender has been inspired to keep pushing by the opportunity to make history.
Saliba helped Arsenal win the Premier League title for the first time in 22 years this season before they fell narrowly short in their bid to win the Champions League for the first time in their history, losing the final on penalties to Paris Saint-Germain.
And now the 25-year-old is seeking to win the World Cup with France, who began the tournament as favourites and then won their opening match against Senegal 3-1.
“I’ve had some minor niggles for several months,” Saliba said ahead of Monday’s clash with Iraq. “I’ve been gritting my teeth because there was the Champions League and the Premier League. But the coaching staff are handling it very well.
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“The World Cup comes round only once every four years, so you’ve got to grit your teeth. I’m not at 100%, but there are plenty of players who aren’t at 100% either — you can’t make excuses.”
France were arguably not at 100% themselves against Senegal, toiling for an hour before Kylian Mbappé opened the scoring in the 66th minute.
It was the first of two for the talisman, as the 27-year-old’s goal in stoppage time saw him overhaul Olivier Giroud to become France’s all-time top goalscorer with 58 goals.
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On Monday, Mbappe can earn his 100th cap and, with 14 World Cup goals to his name, continue his pursuit of the all-time World Cup record — now jointly held by Miroslav Klose and Lionel Messi who are on 16. Messi and Argentina face Austria on Monday.
There is plenty of reason to believe more goals will come against Iraq. France have scored at least once in each of their last 14 matches, with multiple goals in 13 of those, while Iraq are coming off a heavy 4-1 loss to Norway — a result which denied France top spot in Group I.
There is still plenty for Didier Deschamps to work on, however, with France having not kept a clean sheet in any of their last six games.
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Iraq, yet to pick up a point in any of their previous four World Cup matches, have scored nine in their last 11 matches.
Reports in France suggest Deschamps could shuffle his pack, with Lucas Digne and Manu Koné among those hoping to come in, alongside Barcola who came off the bench to score on his World Cup debut against Senegal.
Iraq’s Ali Jasim has been declared fit despite being withdrawn against Norway with a knock.
