Manchester United defender Raphael Varane came off in the second half against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge with a thigh injury and has been undergoing his rehabilitation at Clarefontaine – the French national football centre. Ever since that match predictions were mostly pessimistic when it came to Varane’s participation at the World Cup in Qatar.But great news came Didier Deschamps’ way as it is reported that the 29-year-old is set to be fit for the tournament despite limping off in tears last month against the Blues. Varane has resumed running in recent days as his preparations and recovery step up a notch, though it is not expected that he will play in either of United’s remaining two games before the break.##NAJAVA_MECA_6794941##Concerns had grown that Varane, who was key to France’s success in Russia in 2018, would not be fit in time for the World Cup owing to the short turnaround time between the season ending and their campaign getting underway. However, it has since been reported by L’Equipe that the defender’s rehab remains on the correct timescale with the national side confident he will be ready to go for the tournament.It was reported by Get French Football News that Varane will start in a 3-4-1-2 formation alongside William Saliba and Benoit Badiashile, neither of whom has played in a major tournament for the national team – both Saliba and Badiashile made their international debuts this year.BREAKING: Man United defender Raphaël Varane has been declared fit for the World Cup pic.twitter.com/GSVaEDZPIl— FootballChampions (@ChampionsTV_) November 7, 2022 Didier Deschamps is set to name his final 26-man squad on Wednesday with France bidding to become the first country since Brazil in 1962 to retain their crown.Deschamps will thus be relying on Varane to lead what could be an otherwise quite inexperienced side with the likes of N’Golo Kante and Paul Pogba missing and concerns over the form of Antoine Griezmann.France’s campaign gets underway on November 22 when they take on Australia.
