Yoan Makoundou released, French team now down to 17 players

Yoan Makoundou (2.07m, 24 years old), who had joined the French team at the last minute as a replacement for Mathias Lessort, will not continue with Les Bleus for EuroBasket 2025. As the French team begins its preparation this Monday evening in Mouilleron-le-Captif against Montenegro, the AS Monaco center has already left the team.

Merci Yoan 💙

The French squad is reduced to 17 players. Yoan Makoundou (24 years old, 13 caps) leaves Les Bleus, who will travel to Pau on Tuesday to continue their preparation.#TeamFranceBasket | #PassionnémentBleu | #EuroBasket pic.twitter.com/w7IhNtlMd1

— Équipes de France de Basket (@FRABasketball) August 4, 2025

One rotation less before games even begin

The announcement came this Monday: Yoan Makoundou will not continue the preparation camp with the French team. The coaching staff decided to reduce the group before the start of the preparation games series. The center, who had joined Les Bleus to fill in for Mathias Lessort’s withdrawal, won’t have the opportunity to earn his stripes during preparation.

To date, no official communication from FFBB specifies the exact reasons for this choice, nor whether it’s a definitive return or just a temporary group adjustment. However, according to Ouest-France, this departure is not related to an injury.

French squad reduced before facing Montenegro

This Monday in Mouilleron-le-Captif (9:10 PM, on La Chaîne L’Équipe), Les Bleus face Montenegro to start their series of five friendly matches in August. This will be the first real test for Frédéric Fauthoux’s men.

The frontcourt will rely notably on Vincent Poirier, Alexandre Sarr, Moussa Diabaté, as well as Jaylen Hoard and Guerschon Yabusele to do the work in the paint. However, Mouhammadou Jaiteh is not selected for this first friendly match.