The surprise return of Saudi Arabia-based N'Golo Kanté and the inclusion of Bayern Munich's injury-prone winger Kingsley Coman were notable in the France Euro 2024 squad named on Thursday.
Superstar Kylian Mbappé will lead the 25-man squad of the World Cup runners-up for the tournament in Germany June 14-July 14.
Coach Didier Deschamps used a French TV show to announce he was picking Coman despite the winger being currently out with adductor problems. Bayern team-mate Dayot Upamecano was nominated despite his mixed displays in defence for the Bavarians this term.
The biggest surprise though was the comeback for Kanté. The former Chelsea defensive midfielder was a key player in France's 2018 World Cup triumph in Russia but the last of the 33-year-old's 53 caps came two years ago.
His move to Al-Ittihad had looked to end his international career.
Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud, 37, Ousmane Dembélé, Marcus Thuram and Randal Kolo Muani offer a plethora of forward options alongside Mbappé.
Defenders Benjamin Pavard, Ibrahima Konaté and Jonathan Clauss are included but Lucas Hernandez misses out with another knee ligament tear.
France face Austria (June 17), the Netherlands (June 21) and Poland (June 25) in the group phase.
Before heading to their Euro base in Paderborn, Les Bleus play warm-ups against Luxembourg (June 5) and Canada (June 9).