France Haven't Called Up a Second-Division Player Since Juventus Were in Serie B — Zidane Just Picked Wolfsburg's Saël Kumbedi to Replace Juve's Kalulu

The last time France called up a player from a second division, Juventus were in Serie B. On Monday, Zinédine Zidane did it again, and the player who made room for him is a Juventus defender. The French Football Federation said Wolfsburg right back Saël Kumbedi, 21, will replace Pierre Kalulu, who has a left hamstring injury, for this week's Nations League games against Italy and Turkey. Kumbedi has never played for the senior team, and his club is playing in the 2. Bundesliga, Germany's second tier.

According to French outlet Foot Mercato, the last France players to be capped while playing in a second division were David Trezeguet and Jean-Alain Boumsong. Both were at Juventus after the club was relegated to Serie B in the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal. Boumsong played against Scotland on Oct. 7, 2006, and Trezeguet faced Argentina on Feb. 7, 2007. France lost both games 1-0.

Kalulu got hurt in Juventus' 2-2 draw at Fiorentina on Saturday. Instead of reporting to France, he went back to Turin for tests, and the club's medical update showed a hamstring lesion. Goal Italia reported he is expected to be out for about three weeks, which would also keep him out of Juve's first game after the break, against Venezia.

Juventus will feel it too. Goal Italia noted that Kalulu had been Luciano Spalletti's most-used outfield player this season, which means more minutes now for Federico Gatti and Lloyd Kelly in the back three.

France were already short at right back. Jules Koundé was left out of Friday's squad with an ankle injury, so Zidane's options there were down to Malo Gusto. Le Figaro wrote that Kumbedi could get his first minutes this week.

Kumbedi came through Le Havre's academy and broke through at Lyon. He moved to Wolfsburg on loan in August 2025 and made the transfer permanent in January 2026. Wolfsburg were relegated at the end of last season, and he stayed with them in the second division.

He has kept his place there. Get French Football News reported that he has started eight of the nine games he has played this season, and he has 36 appearances and five assists for Wolfsburg in all. He has nine caps for France's under-21 team, and Transfermarkt values him at €12 million, the highest figure in Wolfsburg's squad, according to franceinfo.

The pick follows a pattern. In the previous window, Zidane went to the under-21s for Leny Yoro, and this time he went back to that group instead of calling up a more experienced right back from a top-flight club.

The history has a twist. Zidane coaches France now, but in 2006 he was still playing, and the World Cup final against Italy in Berlin was the last game of his career. Trezeguet missed France's only penalty in the shootout that night. Three months later, as a Serie B player, Boumsong was back in the France squad, and Trezeguet followed in February.

French outlet beIN Sports also listed Fabien Barthez as an earlier example. He played in France's second division with Marseille after the club was sent down over the VA-OM bribery scandal. In each of those cases, the player was in the second tier because his club had been punished. Kumbedi is there because Wolfsburg finished in the relegation places.

France face Italy in Milan on Thursday and host Turkey in Bordeaux on Sunday. Reuters reported that a draw at San Siro is enough for Les Bleus to clinch a spot in the Nations League quarterfinals.

If Kumbedi plays in either game, he will become the first player capped by France while playing in a second division since Trezeguet nearly 20 years ago, when Juventus were playing in Serie B. This time Juventus are in Serie A, and it is Wolfsburg's relegation that sends him to Clairefontaine as a second-tier player. Zidane has already shown with Yoro that he will hand debuts to young players, and with Koundé out, Kumbedi has a real chance at right back.