France may miss their key defenders Raphael Varane and Ibrahima Konate in the coming FIFA World Cup final against Argentina on Sunday because of illness, ESPN reported on Friday.

"In Doha, temperatures have fallen a little bit, you have air conditioning which is on all the time," France manager Didier Deschamps said. "We've had a few cases of flu-like symptoms. We are trying to be careful so it doesn't spread, and players have made great efforts out on the pitch and obviously their immune systems suffer."

ESPN listed five players who missed the training: Varane, Konate, Dayot Upamecano, Adrien Rabiot and Kingsley Coman. Rabiot and Upamecano also missed the semifinals against Morocco on Thursday as a result.

"Dayot will be fit. Since Saturday he wasn't well for three days ... had a fever, and that had an impact on his strength. Given the tough match we had, I decided not to play him and play Konate instead as he's shown he's good enough to play at this level," Deschamps said. "Rabiot was sick, was better this afternoon but not well enough, so he stayed in the hotel. We have four days to rest, so he should be better and available for Sunday."

There is no confirmation at the moment what kind of virus hit the French national team, but both manager Deschamps and winger Ousmane Dembele expressed their confidence in the squad. Deschamps also revealed that "everyone will be ready" to play Argentina on Sunday.

Having a solid defense can't be more important to France because that's the team's foundation and it's how they can maximize the power of Kylian Mbappe's speed and Antoine Griezmann's orchestrating ability in counterstrikes. More importantly, it will take half or even more of a team's defensive attention and efforts to contain Lionel Messi. If French defenders are held back by their health, goalkeeper Hugo Lloris will face a serious test at the Lusail Stadium on Sunday.