There were plenty of European squads that looked average to downright awful in their Nations League appearances during the international break. In England’s case for example, they even got relegated from the top division in the Nations League. That proves that it’s not just that the team had one bad international break, which can happen, but they’ve been bad for a while. France didn’t lose its place in the top group, but they failed to qualify for the final 4. They came in third in their group getting beat badly by the Danish team who they have to now get ready to face again in a couple of months.
There’s no question that France was the best team in the 2018 World Cup tournament. The scary part for a lot of people was that the team was seemingly on cruise control the whole tournament. On top of that their players were young enough to the point where pretty much the exact same group could make an effort to repeat in 2022. While the French team is certainly going to make an effort to repeat judging from their most recent results, that’s looking rather unlikely. Is France going to lay an egg at the World Cup?
What Happened To The Team?
There are a couple of things that we have to recognize, number one is that the competition that they were facing in their Nations League group was not easy. Croatia, and Denmark are both very good squads that have essentially been playing together in the same style of play for a while now. The weak link in the group if you will was Austria, and this is a team that also fights hard. That’s what’s left many people scratching their heads, these 3 teams “fight hard”, but France is on paper way more talented.
One of the issues that plagued France, particularly in the Nations League was the fact that Didier Deschamps was trying to introduce new faces in the squad, and even changing formations from one game to the next. The midfield has been a strength for France going back to this generation’s coming out party which was at the 2016 European Championships. Blaise Matuidi, Paul Pogba, and Kante have not been a part of the French midfield for the last few call-ups. Deschamps has made conscious efforts to rework that part of the team. The French do have up-and-coming talent in those midfield spots, but at this point they just haven’t found the consistency that they need to be dominant again.
Realistic Expectations For France At The World Cup
Other than Brazil’s 2006 squad, since France 98 all of the reigning World Cup champions have vowed out in the first round at the next tournament. France was shockingly eliminated in the first round in Korea, and Japan 2002. Italy came in 4th in their group in 2010 after winning in 2006. Spain were eliminated in the first round in 2014, and finally Germany vowed out in the first round in 2018. With this in mind it wouldn’t be weird if France got booted in the first round. Plus, they’ve been very uneven in World Cup tournaments. They won 98, out first round 02, finals in 06, out first round in 2010 to then have a decent, but not spectacular tournament in 2014, and winning it all again in 2018.
History doesn’t necessarily repeat itself, and despite the shaky present that the French national team seems to be going through they could still make a push in this year’s tournament. It would be a shock if history does repeat itself, and they are out in the 1st round. The team just has too much talent across the board, and they have a relatively easy group. They do have to face Denmark again, but Australia and Tunisia don’t seem to be on their level. France is definitely a team no one wants to see in the knock-out stages. History says they’ll likely be out in the first round though!
