Wigan Warriors and Leeds Rhinos men among Super League stars named in France squad

A number of Super League players have been named in the France squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifying matches.

Their European Cup game, against Ukraine, will take place next Tuesday – October 22- and a win would see them through to the final.

The clash with Ukraine will take place in Carcassonne at 6:30pm UK time.

Laurent Frayssinous, the current French national team head coach who recently left St Helens, said: “We are aware of the challenge that awaits us during this European Cup and we have the clear and precise objective of getting closer to qualifying for the next World Cup.

“This requires a victory in this tournament and we are all excited at the idea of ​​meeting again and we can’t wait to start preparing together.”

Super League stars named for World Cup qualifiers

Fourteen players that featured for Super League sides in 2024 have been named in the extended 29-man squad, with Catalans Dragons players making up eight of those.

They have Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet, Yacine Ben Abdeselem, Alrix Da Costa, Théo Fages, Matthieu Laguerre, Clément Martin, Arthur Romano and Cesar Rougé named in the squad – but there’s no Arthur Mourgue.

Meanwhile, Wigan man Tiaki Chan is named, as well as Huddersfield’s Hugo Salabio and Leeds Rhinos forward Justin Sangaré, who is joined by his departing 2024 teammate Mickael Goudemand.

There’s also room for Ugo Tison and Hakim Miloudi, who have now departed Super League after London Broncos’ relegation, and Mathieu Cozza, whose Wakefield Trinity side will likely feature in the 2025 Super League season,

Former Super League player Éloi Pélissier is also included as one of five Toulouse Olympique players in Frayssinous’ squad.

Currently ranked eighth in the world in the IRL rankings, they’re the second-highest ranked team in Europe and should be confident of securing victory.

Wales will face Serbia in the other qualification game, with the two nations equally desperate to feature on the global stage in 2026.