France's assistant coach Guy Stephan reveals Benjamin Pavard was dropped for 'sporting reasons'

France's assistant coach Guy Stephan has said Benjamin Pavard was dropped due to a 'sporting decision' and that 'his behaviour around the group' has been impeccable.

Pavard started France's opening match of the 2022 World Cup, but was at fault for Australia's opening goal after failing to track Craig Goodwin's run into the box.

As a result, Pavard lost his place in France's starting line-up for the rest of their group games and missed out on their last-16 tie with Poland.

France boss Didier Deschamps decided to play Jules Kounde and Axel Disasi over Pavard for their fixtures against Denmark, Tunisia and Poland.

According to reports, the decision was welcomed by Pavard's team-mates as his performance against Australia had been scrutinised by the squad.

However, Stephan has dismissed any claims of a rift between Pavard and the France squad. He insisted the decision to drop the 26-year-old was purely 'sporting'.

Speaking ahead of Saturday's quarter-final with England, Stephan said: 'Benjamin Pavard isn't playing but don't let that take away from his training, his behaviour around the group or his performances.

The assistant coach went on to added: 'Of course he [Pavard] is disappointed [with being dropped] but it's a sporting decision.'

Deschamps, who oversaw France's 2018 World Cup winning team, explained his decision to leave Pavard out of the starting XI that played Tunisia last week.

During their post match press conference on November 30, he said the defender was not 'in the right disposition' to play.

'I took the decision not to play him, I won't go into the details,' Deschamps said. 'I've had several conversations with him. I don't consider him to be in the right disposition.

'So you'll ask me – is it physical, is it in his head? The first match didn't help, of course. That's why I made a different choice.'

Pavard played the full match in each of France's knock-out games at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. He even scored against Argentina in the last-16 to send them through.

However, it is unlikely that Pavard - who has been capped 47 times - will feature against England in their quarter-final clash on Saturday night.