But left out of Thursday's 23-man list for the qualifiers against Ukraine and Georgia were Juventus attacker David Trezeguet, while also missing were the injured trio Thierry Henry, Willy Sagnol and Patrick Vieira.

Explaining Trezeguet's absence the France manager said: "His ability isn't in question, he hasn't been picked for the same reasons as before, the difference between Serie B and the international level."

Both Briand, 21, and Sagna, 24, are graduates of France's Under 21 side.

Franck Ribery and Florent Malouda make their return to the national team while among the goalkeepers Domenech has added Fiorentina's Sebastien Frey to regular stoppers Gregory Coupet and Mickael Landreau.

France play Ukraine at the Stade de France on June 2 and Georgia in Auxerre four days later with Domenech calling for fans to recreate the 'Spirit of '98' when France won the World Cup on home soil.

"I would like to see something extra, like all the supporters decked out in blue -- that will give an immeidate confidence boost to the players,' he explained.

The 2006 World Cup finalists are tied on 12 points with Ukraine and Scotland at the top of Group B, but have a game in hand on the Scots in the race to gain qualification for next year's European Championships in Austria and Switzerland.

World champions Italy are fourth in the group on 10 points, and like France have played five matches.

SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Gregory Coupet (Lyon), Mickael Landreau (PSG), Sebastien Frey (Fiorentina/ITA)

Defenders: Eric Abidal (Lyon), Francois Clerc (Lyon), Julien Escude (Sevilla/ESP), William Gallas (Arsenal/ENG), Bakary Sagna (Auxerre), Sebastien Squillaci (Lyon), Lilian Thuram (Barcelona/ESP)

Midfielders: Abou Diaby (Arsenal/ENG), Alou Diarra (Lyon), Lassana Diarra (Chelsea/ENG), Claude Makelele (Chelsea/ENG), Florent Malouda (Lyon), Samir Nasri (Marseille), Franck Ribery (Marseille), Jeremy Toulalan (Lyon)

Forwards: Nicolas Anelka (Bolton/ENG), Karim Benzema (Lyon), Jimmy Briand (Rennes), Djibril Cisse (Marseille), Sidney Govou (Lyon)