William Saliba travelled with the France squad to receive a welcome from the fans in Paris, following their World Cup finish as runners-up.

William Saliba (2nd from left) greets supporters at the Hotel de Crillon, a day after the Qatar 2022 World Cup final match against Argentina, at the Place de la Concorde in central Paris on December 19, 2022. (Photo by GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT/AFP via Getty Images)
William Saliba (2nd from left) greets supporters at the Hotel de Crillon, a day after the Qatar 2022 World Cup final match against Argentina, at the Place de la Concorde in central Paris on December 19, 2022. (Photo by GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT/AFP via Getty Images)

William Saliba and the French national team saw their World Cup campaign ending in disappointment as they lost out to Argentina on penalties, despite coming from 2-0 down and 3-2 down to level the scores twice.

But whilst some other Arsenal players have either linked straight back up with the squad or taken a week of holiday, Saliba had other duties to attend to first.

Despite their defeat, the French national team travelled to France to be welcomed back by over 50,000 supporters at the Place de la Concorde in central Paris.

Airport workers gave the squad a guard of honour upon their initial arrival on the runway, before they were escorted to the Hotel de Crillon to wave to the gathered fans.

France's defender William Saliba attends a press conference at the Jassim-bin-Hamad Stadium in Doha on December 2, 2022, during the Qatar 2022 World Cup football tournament. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)
France’s defender William Saliba attends a press conference at the Jassim-bin-Hamad Stadium in Doha on December 2, 2022, during the Qatar 2022 World Cup football tournament. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)

A trip to Paris isn’t too much of a detour for Saliba, as it’s most of the way back to London anyway. But the centre-back might now get some time off, as all of the other World Cup internationals have had.

Even those that travelled straight to Dubai to link up with the Arsenal squad didn’t immediately rejoin training, taking a few days of holiday first. So the same will likely apply for Saliba.