France’s football talent pool runs deep. The nation has a history of attractive football. And yet, when it won its first World Cup in 1998, it was through a defensive attitude under a conservative manager, Aime Jacquet. His captain then, Didier Deschamps, has managed France for 14 years now, perpetuating the cautious approach, holding back rampaging rivers of talent behind a dam of pragmatism and negation.
Finally, there’s a twist in the tale. In his last tournament as France manager, Deschamps has fielded four fearsome attacking players: Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise and either Desire Doue or Bradley Barcola. They are supported by an adventurous central midfielder in Adrien Rabiot and attacking full-backs on either side. The remaining three outfield players, the two centrebacks and a defensive midfielder, stay at the ready to support the attack. The substitutes warming France’s bench, like Rayan Cherki, are themselves a threatening prospect for any team.
People are running out of metaphors faster than Olise’s defence-splitting passes. Ghenghis Khan’s four dogs of war? The four horsemen of the Apocalypse? The relentless fast bowling attack of the West Indies in the ’70s and the ’80s?
The hype has a context. International tournament football is all about band-aid solutions. The games might feel exciting—there’s plenty of entertainment on the offer—but the quality of football is generally poor compared to club football. National managers just don’t have the time to work on the players after gruelling club seasons. The immense pressure on national teams reduces even a squad like France to prioritise safety.
This is why this French team is a new beast. It’s not just the intensity and diversity of talent unleashed; they actually play really well together. Almost like they play for the same club through the year. Before Olise delivers a weighted pass that nobody has thought of, one of the attackers begins his run to gather it. What explains such coordination? Because they know how the other thinks. They pass and run to meet each other’s thoughts. All great teams have that. The Spain squad of 2010 and the Germany squad of 2014 had it. What they lacked, however, is such all-out attacking nous.
Caution to the wind
For some reason, Deschamps seems to have accepted that France don’t need safety. Perhaps he wishes to depart on a note of caution-to-wind glory. The caution is now reserved for France’s opponents. Just consider what happened to Morocco in the quarter-final on June 9. So much was expected of this outstanding Morocco team, which is why its tame surrender was so surprising. They looked helpless like Roman soldiers facing the indomitable Gauls from Asterix’s village.
France look ominous; much more so now than before the World Cup began. They look very likely to not just win this time but to then begin an all-conquering era under Zinedine Zidane, likely to replace Deschamps. At which point, it is worth asking: Should the rest of the world give up already?
Difficult as it may seem, this France team is not without weakness; it lies in its defence and its midfield. The best defensive midfielder of his generation, N’golo Kante is too old now and sits on the bench. There’s no Antoine Griezman keeping things together. The centreback pairing of Saliba-Upamecano are not foolproof; they certainly do not measure up to Marcel Desailly and Laurent Blanc of 1998. For a team to beat France, they will have to stolidly absorb the attack and, at the same time, look for moments to take the game to France.
The history of the World Cup is full of examples of great attacking teams that did not win the title. That’s the very reason Jacquet and Deschamps championed safety-first football. Brazil lost to Uruguay in the 1950 final. Hungary lost to West Germany in 1954, as did the Netherlands in the 1974 final; they went on to lose the 1978 final to Argentina. The Brazil teams of 1982 and 1986 ran out of steam. Italy had the most talented squad in 1990, when they lost the semi-final to a pugnacious Argentina, and in 1994, when they lost the final in a penalty shootout to a dour Brazil team deploying two defensive midfielders. (Carlo Ancelotti is a reminder of that golden generation of Italy.)
If you had to pick a team to beat this France squad, you’d have to pick Spain. Of their last six encounters since 2012, Spain has won four, drawn one and lost one. There was the the 5-4 craziness of the see-saw final of the UEFA Nations League last year. At the Euro 2024, Spain returned from a goal down in the semi-final to beat France 2-1, going on to beat England to lift the trophy.
Water under the bridge
It’s not the same Spain, though; and it’s not the same France. For one, Deschamps has upped the ante. For another, Spain are without the full services of its electric wingers Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams, both of whom lack fitness. Spain will deny France the kind of possession it has enjoyed against other teams; that also explains why Spain haven’t conceded a goal yet in this World Cup. But this France team can settle a 90-minute draw in a moment or two of inspiration.
A lot will depend, obviously, on how Spain deal with Belgium in the second quarterfinal. Free of the managerial shackles called Roberto Martinez, Belgium have given a better account of themselves than in recent years. The manager Rudi Garcia has not been afraid of benching star players Kevin de Bruyne and Jeremy Doku. In beating USA after the Folarin Balogun fracas, it has the world rooting for it. Belgium have the players and the ability, but they seem to lack the steel required to face this France.
Among the other quarterfinalists, only Norway seem capable of a major surprise. Argentina don’t seem comfortable without the ball; France will not let them have as much of it as they have managed against other teams. Argentina now prefer a slow build-up, instead of attacking with pace; they count on Lionel Messi to produce yet another moment of magic. France’s attackers will be salivating at the kind of mistakes Argentina’s defence made against Egypt. Their centreback options are all vulnerable to a rash moment resulting in a red card.
England look like they will score against France, but their own defence and midfield doesn’t seem capable of dealing with France’s unrelenting attack. Switzerland will not be able to cope with France. Norway, meanwhile, have the attacking players capable of decisive moments. But, more than that, they have shown the kind of solid effectiveness that can grind out a result in a tough encounter. Norway were the dark horses for several people before the tournament. How they cope with England will provide more signs.
As things stand, though, it looks like we should all prepare to listen to the La Marseillaise repeatedly. Because France look like they will march on. At a canter, even.
Sopan Joshi is an independent journalist.