France coach quoted Einstein before dropping captain Wendie Renard from Euro 2025 squad | OneFootball

France’s captain Wendie Renard and all-time leading goalscorer Eugenie Le Sommer were dropped by head coach Laurent Bonadei before Euro 2025, leaving Les Bleues without their two most experienced players as they play England, Wales and Netherlands in Group D.

Renard and Le Sommer were left out by Bonadei for France’s Nations League games against Switzerland and Iceland before the Euros and did not return to make his 23-player squad.

Centre-back Renard, 34, has played 168 times for France and captained her country at last summer’s home Olympic Games in France, while Le Sommer has scored a record 94 goals in 200 appearances.

France have never won a major international tournament and Bonadei, who was assistant to Herve Renard at the 2023 World Cup and Olympics before taking the reins, defended his decision by saying it had been planned for some time.

“These are tough choices,” Bonadei said last month. “They are difficult to make and difficult to announce to the players. It’s a decision that’s hard to hear, hard to understand and almost impossible for them to accept because they’re legendary players for the French team.

“I didn’t make this decision on the spur of the moment. You’d think, given the timing, that this is crazy but it’s not. As Einstein said: ‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.’ I want different results for this team so I have gone with a different selection.

France head coach Laurent Bonadei (Getty Images)

“It’s something I’ve been thinking about since the start of the season. When I announced that everyone had a chance, that no one was indispensable, in my mind it wasn’t just about giving young players a chance but also players who had suffered psychologically after the Olympic Games and making sure that everyone was involved.”

France play holders England in their opening game of the Euros on Saturday in the tournament’s ‘group of death’. Centre-back Griedge Mbock has been named as France’s captain, having been vice-captain behind Renard at the last Olympics.