Former Celtic and France U-21 midfielder Olivier Ntcham has been given a surprise selection for the Qatar World Cup.

The midfielder starred for his country at multiple youth levels, often appearing alongside other former Celts Moussa Dembele and Odsonne Edouard at U-21 level, but was unlikely to ever to be selected for the senior side given the wealth of elite talent at Didier Deschamps’ disposal.

Ntcham switched allegiances to Cameroon whilst still at Celtic, but only received his first call-up for the African side in September, now a Swansea player, having left Glasgow last year.

Ntcham has been selected in the Cameroon squad for the Qatar World Cup, despite only having two caps so far for his new international side.

The 26-year-old made his full international debut against Uzbekistan in September, following up with another cap against South Korea three days later as Cameroon completed their final round of international friendlies before Qatar.

He’ll now compete for a place in The Indomitable Lions’ midfield, as they look to qualify from Group G in Qatar.

They take on Switzerland on the 24th of November, Serbia on the 28th, before concluding their group stage campaign with a glamour decider against Brazil on the 2nd of December.

The winners of Cameroon’s Group G will play the runners-up of Group H, containing Uruguay, Portugal, Ghana and South Korea, on the 5th of December, with the reverse fixture a day later for the Group G runners-up and Group H winners.

Though it ended fairly acrimoniously for Ntcham at Celtic, he was a player who gave the Paradise faithful some tremendous memories over his four years in Glasgow, from stellar derby performances and goals, to that famous Lazio winner, it’s likely that few would begrudge him a successful World Cup and beyond for his new national side.