France squad gives warm welcome to Chelsea's UCL winners Kante, Giroud and Zouma: Watch

Reigning World Champions France gave their heroes a grand welcome as a trio of Chelsea stars joined the squad ahead of the upcoming European Championship. The Blues stars N'Golo Kante, Olivier Giroud and Kurt Zouma all joined the France squad at the Clairefontaine performance centre after their Champions League victory. France are set to play in two friendlies before their Euro 2020 schedule kicks off, with one against Wales on Wednesday night. 

Chelsea stars N'Golo Kante, Giroud, Zouma receive warm welcome from France squad 

In a video shared on the French national team's social media, Chelsea stars N'Golo Kante, Olivier Giroud and Kurt Zouma received a warm welcome after their exploits in the Champions League. The Blues won the title at the expense of Premier League champions Manchester City, with Kante putting in a man of the match performance. The trio received a word of congratulations and hugs from their coach Didier Deschamps, while many players came forward to greet them into the team. Antoine Griezmann, Benjamin Pavard, Moussa Sissoko along with the Deschamps' support staff all wished the Chelsea trio on the eve of their game against Wales. 

The Champions League winners are unlikely to feature in the game but Deschamps is likely to give his fringe players some game time in a bid to manage the workload and expectations of his squad. Les Blues will hope that they can take inspiration from Chelsea's Champions League success and clinch the Euros title, having lost in the final to Portugal last time. Since then the team has seen a major revamp and lifted the 2018 World Cup. A European Championship will put them in elite territory. Only three teams have previously held the European Championships and the World Cup at the same time, namely West Germany (1972 Euros, 1974 World Cup), France (1998 World Cup and 2000 Euros) and Spain (2008, 2012 Euros, 2010 World Cup). 

France Euro 2020 schedule

• Wednesday 16 June: France vs Germany (12:30 AM IST, Munich)
• Saturday 19 June: Hungary vs France (6:30 AM IST, Budapest)
• Thursday 24 June: Portugal v France (12:30 AM IST, Budapest)

France Euro 2020 squad

• Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham); Mike Maignan (AC Milan); Steve Mandanda (Marseille)
• Defenders: Lucas Digne (Everton); Leo Dubois (Lyon); Lucas Hernandez (Bayern Munich); Presnel Kimpembe (Paris Sain- Germain); Jules Kounde (Sevilla); Clement Lenglet (Barcelona); Benjamin Pavard (Bayern Munich); Raphael Varane (Real Madrid); Kurt Zouma (Chelsea)
• Midfielders: Ngolo Kante (Chelsea); Thomas Lemar (Atletico Madrid); Paul Pogba (Manchester United); Adrien Rabiot (Juventus); Moussa Sissoko (Tottenham); Corentin Tolisso (Bayern Munich)
• Forwards: Wissam Ben Yedder (Monaco); Karim Benzema (Real Madrid); Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich); Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona); Olivier Giroud (Chelsea); Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona); Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain); Marcus Thuram (Borussia Munchengladbach)

(Image Courtesy: French Team Twitter)