Aurelien Tchouaméni has acknowledged that he was not fully fit during France’s run at the 2026 World Cup and that pushing through a thigh problem cost him the first weeks of his Real Madrid season.

In an interview with France 24, the 26-year-old midfielder said the pain set in before the knockout rounds.

“From the third or fourth match onwards, and even a little before that, I was in pain.”

Tchouaméni missed France’s final group-stage win over Iraq with the same thigh issue, then sat out the round of 16 against Paraguay and was left on the bench for the quarter-final against Morocco. He started again in the semi-final in Dallas on 14 July, which France lost 2-0 to Spain.

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The decision to stay available was his own.

“I took risks that I might not have taken at another time, but I don’t regret anything.”

“I paid the price afterwards, but it’s part of my story and I have no regrets about it.”

He was blunt about his performance against Spain.

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“No, obviously, that wasn’t the real Aurelien Tchouaméni.”

The weeks lost at Real Madrid

The thigh problem followed Tchouaméni into pre-season and ruled him out of Real Madrid’s opening LaLiga fixtures. He returned on 15 September against Elche under new head coach Jose Mourinho, playing 86 minutes alongside Federico Valverde in a 3-2 win sealed by a stoppage-time Carlos Espí goal.

Mourinho, who took charge of Real Madrid in July on a three-year contract, has publicly leaned on Tchouaméni as the player he wants anchoring the midfield once he is sharp.

Zidane left him in Madrid

The France team Tchouaméni is trying to force his way back into also has a new voice. Zinedine Zidane replaced Didier Deschamps weeks after the semi-final defeat and signed a four-year contract, with his reign set to begin in a Nations League trip to Turkey followed by a home game against Italy at the Stade de France on 2 October.

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Zidane left Tchouaméni out of his first squad, preferring to let the Real Madrid man finish his recovery at club level. Tchouaméni said he understood the logic.

“If you perform well, it will happen.”

He has returned to Mourinho’s starting XI as a regular since the Elche game.

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