AL RAYYAN, Qatar (AP) — Youssouf Fofana has gone from serving pizzas to delivering crosses in the FIFA World Cup.

Dropped in 2015 at age 14 from Clairefontaine, France’s national training centre, his future in football seemed at an end. So he went to work for a pizzeria.

“That was the best way to earn money and also to follow my dreams,” the 23-year-old midfielder said before France met England in a World Cup quarter-final.

Fofana made his French national team debut in September and was picked by Coach Didier Deschamps for the 26-man team that is defending Les Bleus’ World Cup title.

He entered as a second-half sub in the group stage wins over Australia and Denmark, started in the 1-0 loss to Tunisia, and played the last 25 minutes of the round of 16 victory over Poland.

Quite the turnaround for a player who needed two years to find a professional club. He played for Drancy, an amateur side in Paris’ north-east suburbs before signing with Strasbourg’s youth academy in 2017.

“I had my doubts, and you have to know how to move forward,” he said through an interpreter.

He made his Ligue 1 debut against Lyon on August 24, 2018, moved to Monaco in January 2020 and reached the Europa League with his new club in 2021-22 and the current season.

France, seeking their third World Cup title, advanced to the semi-final against Morocco which will be played on Wednesday. The other side of the bracket will have Argentina playing 2018’s runners-up Croatia.

Fofana was in a jovial mood when discussing preparations. Asked about the frame of mind in the dressing room before World Cup kick-offs, he responded: “The atmosphere is tense, tense, tense.”

“No, I’m joking,” he went on. “We can wear headphones, so if we don’t like the chosen music for the group, then we can listen to our own music.”

Defender Dayot Upamecano said he has spoken with Marcel Desailly, a defender on France’s 1998 world champion team.

“He’s given me some advice, and I should continue doing what I’m doing,” Upamecano said through an interpreter. “It’s a real pleasure to be able to talk to someone like that. He was a winner, he was a warrior — a real example for the French.”