Two more France stars fall ill days before World Cup final as virus rips through squad and players isolate

FRANCE have suffered a fresh scare ahead of the World Cup final after two more of their stars fell ill.

Les Bleus sealed their place in the showpiece by defeating Morocco 2-0 in the semis on Wednesday.

Holders France will now face Argentina in the World Cup final on Sunday after the South Americans had booked their place by beating Croatia 3-0.

Didier Deschamps has managed to guide his reigning champions to the verge of another crown despite suffering a number of crippling injury blows.

Midfield duo Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante were both ruled out of the tournament.

Karim Benzema was selected for action before he was ruled out too, while Lucas Hernandez was injured in their first game and is now set to miss the rest of the season.

France are now desperately trying to stem the flow of a flu-like virus which threatens to derail their World Cup final hopes.

Midfielder Adrien Rabiot and centre-back Dayot Upamecano were confirmed to have caught the bug before the semi.

Both players missed that game with Rabiot staying in the hotel and Upamecano remaining on the bench for the full 90 minutes.

Winger Kingsley Coman was also said to have been feeling feverish and sat with the subs throughout the game.

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Now journalist Fabrice Hawkins has claimed Raphael Varane and Ibrahima Konate are the latest to fall ill just two days before the showpiece.

Deschamps revealed yesterday how his team were taking significant precautions, saying: “In Doha, temperatures have fallen a little bit, you have air conditioning which is on all the time.

“We’ve had a few cases of flu-like symptoms.

“We are trying to be careful so it doesn’t spread and players have made great efforts out on the pitch and obviously their immune systems suffer.

“Dayot Upamecano felt sick immediately after the match [against England].

“It happens when you make such an effort, your body is weakened and you are more prone to be infected by these viruses.

“We are taking all necessary precautions, we are trying to make sure it doesn’t spread but viruses are of course infectious and we have to take precautions against it.

“We separated him from others and Adrien as well.”

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk