Désiré Doué is the kind of player who makes France feel almost unfair. Most countries would be building an attack around a 20-year-old PSG winger valued at $105.8m. If Doué were on almost any other squad in the tournament, he would easily be in the top 10 of this list. He is arguably the most talented and exciting under-21 player in the world, just behind Lamine Yamal, yet France might bring him to the World Cup as a rotation piece.
Doué is not on this list because France desperately need him to carry them. He is here because he is talented enough to force his way into a team that already has Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise, Rayan Cherki, Bradley Barcola, Marcus Thuram, and about three more attackers who would start for most national teams. Though he has only six senior caps, Doué could have a major influence on this tournament.
The club résumé is already ridiculous. Doué moved from Rennes to PSG in 2024, and by his first season in Paris he was delivering in the biggest matches. He was named the Champions League Young Player of the Season last year, after a campaign capped by two goals in the 2025 final. This season he has thirteen goals and seven assists across all competitions for PSG.
The national-team piece is starting to arrive too. In March, Doué scored his first two France goals in a 3-1 friendly win over Colombia at Northwest Stadium in Maryland. That was only a tune-up, but it was still the kind of performance that makes Didier Deschamps’ selection problem even harder. France doesn’t lack attackers. They lack minutes for all the attackers who deserve them.
Doué has a unique combination of smoothness and unpredictability. He can play wide, come inside, carry the ball through pressure, combine in tight spaces, and finish when the chance arrives. He is not just a straight-line winger or a luxury dribbler. He already looks like a player who can tilt a match without needing the whole system built around him.
That is probably his World Cup role. Not the face of France, but the frightening change-up. Maybe he starts one group match. Maybe he comes off the bench against a tired fullback. Maybe he is the young player who turns a knockout game in 25 minutes. On almost any other team, Doué would be one of the main characters. For France, he is somehow both a future superstar and a depth piece, which says as much about their absurd talent level as it does about him.