France’s World Cup squad is impossible to ignore

Making it into the World Cup was a walk in the park for them, qualifying for the tournament undefeated. Their ranking and momentum make it hard to argue against them. 

At the top of the lineup is Kylian Mbappé. He is the captain and plays for Real Madrid. The last World Cup in Qatar showed not just his talent, but also his poise under pressure. That kind of pressure can break even the best players. He scored a hat trick in the final, a feat matched by only one other player before him. He helped France come back from being two goals down in just 97 seconds.  

Despite that incredible performance, France lost only because of a penalty shootout against Emiliano Martinez, who was arguably the best goalkeeper at that time and won the Golden Glove in the tournament.  

Mbappé won the World Cup at 19 in Russia. Four years later, he had an even better performance and left knowing he had done everything right. This has built his confidence up for the next tournament. That confidence makes him hard to plan against, and France will be built around it this summer. 

What makes France even more dangerous is that they aren’t a one-man team. Alongside Mbappé stands Ousmane Dembélé, the reigning Ballon d’Or winner, in the best form of his life. Michael Olise, arguably one of the best attacking midfielders in the world right now, has been outstanding at Bayern Munich, a creative and technically-gifted player who causes problems for almost every defender that comes in his way and is hard to prepare for.  

France’s range of attacking options forces opposing coaches into difficult decisions. Defend Mbappé too aggressively, and Dembélé punishes them. Shift toward Dembélé and Olise finds space. And behind all three, attackers like Désiré Doué, Rayan Cherki, and Bradley Barcola are waiting. These are talents who would start for almost any other nation in this tournament. France’s second team could beat many countries’ first teams, and that is not an exaggeration.  

And then there is Didier Deschamps, who became just the third man to ever win the World Cup both as a player and as a manager, having led France to victory in 2018 while he himself had previously done the same as a player in 1998. In 2022, he managed to bring France to the final, where they were defeated by Argentina in the penalty shootout. Three consecutive World Cups where Les Bleus reached the final stage, which could be compared only to Brazil’s domination in the 1990s leading into the 2000s.  

Moreover, his presence at this World Cup is even more important since Deschamps said this would be his final tournament.  

“I have done my time, with the same desire and the same passion to keep the French team at the highest level,” Deschamps said. 

When you have such an experienced player who realizes this might be his last and best chance to prove something, he adds something special to your team. That specialty is something that doesn’t show up in any list or ranking, but it’s something every winning team has had.

In a recent interview, Mbappé said “If we win, and if I win, it’s gonna be insane for the legacy of the country and my legacy, for sure.”

Image Credit: Russian Presidential Press and Information Office