Football World Cup 2018 / France

This article covers the French men's national team at the 2018 World Cup . This was the 15th participation in a World Cup finals for France's footballers, where they won the title for the second time since 1998 .

qualification

France faced the following opponents in Europe Group A :

rank	team	Gates	Points
1	France	18: 06	23
2	Sweden	26: 09	19th
3	Netherlands	21:12	19th
4th	Bulgaria	14:19	13
5	Luxembourg	08:26	06th
6th	Belarus	06:21	05

France	-	Sweden	2: 1 and 1: 2
Netherlands	-	France	0: 1 and 0: 4
France	-	Bulgaria	4: 1 and 1: 0
Luxembourg	-	France	1: 3 and 0: 0
Belarus	-	France	0: 0 and 1: 2

Due to the defeat in the sixth group game against Sweden it seemed to be tight again for France, but the following and convincingly played home win against the Netherlands ensured a certain relaxation. The goalless draw against the neighbors from Luxembourg, which was also played in front of its own audience, was assessed as embarrassing and sometimes even a "fiasco", did not change much, because on the penultimate match day in Bulgaria - one of the greatest feared opponents in the past decades ("bête noire “) Of the French - could be won. As group winners, the Bleus qualified directly for the World Cup finals in Russia . This was then also achieved by the second-placed Swedes, who prevailed against Italy in two Barrage games .

Lloris Sidibé Koscielny Varane (Umtiti) Kurzawa Kanté Pogba Matuidi (Sissoko) Payet (Lemar) Griezmann Giroud (Mbappé) Qualifying team

Djibril Sidibé

Antoine Griezmann

In these ten encounters, coach Didier Deschamps made frequent changes, experimented several times with different game systems - in particular the 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 - and used a total of 30 players, of which only two (Sidibé and Griezmann) have participated in all games. He succeeded in significantly rejuvenating the squad, because exactly half of these players were only 25 years old or more in the late autumn of 2017 (born between 1992 and 1998).
In detail, the following were taken into account (number of appearances in brackets, where, for example, "3 + 2e" means that the player in question was three times in the starting line-up and was substituted on twice):

Tor
Hugo Lloris (9), Steve Mandanda (1)

Defense
Djibril Sidibé (9 + 1e), Laurent Koscielny (8), Raphaël Varane (7), Samuel Umtiti (5), Layvin Kurzawa (5), Benjamin Mendy (2), Lucas Digne (2), Patrice Evra (1) , Bacary Sagna (1), Christophe Jallet (1e)

Midfield
Dimitri Payet (5 + 3e), Blaise Matuidi (7), Paul Pogba (7), N'Golo Kanté (5 + 2e), Moussa Sissoko (5 + 1e), Thomas Lemar (3 + 1e), Kingsley Coman ( 2 + 1e), Corentin Tolisso (2), Adrien Rabiot (2e)

Attack
Antoine Griezmann (10), Olivier Giroud (7 + 1e), Kylian Mbappé (2 + 4e), Kevin Gameiro (2 + 1e), Alexandre Lacazette (1 + 2e), Nabil Fekir (3e), Anthony Martial (1+ 1e), Ousmane Dembélé (1 + 1e), André-Pierre Gignac (2e)

France's 18 goalscorers were scored by Giroud, Griezmann (4 each), Gameiro, Lemar, Payet, Pogba (2 each), Matuidi and Mbappé (1 each).

Contingent

According to FIFA regulations, a “provisional squad” of 30 players had to be named, which was reduced to the final squad of three goalkeepers and 20 field players shortly before France's first group game. As in the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 European Championship , coach Deschamps decided on his “final” 23 players at an early stage in 2018. At the start of the tournament, this group had an average age of exactly 26 years and 10 days - only the Nigerians were younger - and only nine of the players had already played 20 or more international A matches.

No.	Surname	Association (a)	Birthday (age) (b)	Games (goals) (c)	World Cup games / (starting XI) (d)	World Cup goals (d)	(e)
goal
23	Alphonse Aréola	Paris Saint-Germain FC	Feb 27, 1993 (25)	00 0(0)	0	0	0	0	0
01	Hugo Lloris	Tottenham Hotspur (ENG)	Dec 26, 1986 (31)	98 0(0)	6 / (6)	0	0	0	0
16	Steve Mandanda	Olympique Marseille	28 Mar 1985 (33)	27 0(0)	1 / (1)	0	0	0	0
Defense
21st	Lucas Hernández	Atlético Madrid (SPA)	Feb 14, 1996 (22)	05 0(0)	7 / (7)	0	(1) +1	0	0
03	Presnel Kimpembe	Paris Saint-Germain FC	Aug 13, 1995 (22)	02 0(0)	1 / (1)	0	0	0	0
22nd	Benjamin Mendy	Manchester City (ENG)	July 17, 1994 (23)	07 0(0)	1 / (0)	0	0	0	0
02	Benjamin Pavard	VfB Stuttgart (DEU)	28 Mar 1996 (22)	06 0(0)	6 / (6)	1	(1)	0	0
17th	Adil Rami	Olympique Marseille	Dec 27, 1985 (32)	35 0(1)	0	0	0	0	0
19th	Djibril Sidibé	AS Monaco	July 29, 1992 (25)	17 0(1)	1 / (1)	0	0	0	0
05	Samuel Umtiti	FC Barcelona (SPA)	Nov 14, 1993 (24)	19 0(2)	6 / (6)	1	0	0	0
04th	Raphael Varane	Real Madrid (SPA)	Apr 25, 1993 (25)	42 0(2)	7 / (7)	1	0	0	0
midfield
13	N'Golo Kanté	Chelsea FC (ENG)	29 Mar 1991 (27)	24 0(1)	7 / (7)	0	2	0	0
08th	Thomas Lemar	AS Monaco	Nov 12, 1995 (22)	12 0(3)	1 / (1)	0	0	0	0
14th	Blaise Matuidi	Juventus Turin (ITA)	0Apr 9, 1987 (31)	67 0(9)	5 / (4)	0	(2)	0	0
15th	Steven Nzonzi	Sevilla FC (SPA)	Dec 15, 1988 (29)	04 0(0)	5 / (1)	0	0	0	0
06th	Paul Pogba	Manchester United (ENG)	15th Mar 1993 (25)	54 0(9)	6 / (6)	1 (f)	(1)	0	0
12	Corentin Tolisso	Bayern Munich (DEU)	0Aug 3, 1994 (23)	09 0(0)	5 / (2)	0	(1)	0	0
attack
11	Ousmane Dembélé	FC Barcelona (SPA)	May 15, 1997 (21)	12 0(2)	4 / (2)	0	0	0	0
18th	Nabil Fekir	Olympique Lyon	July 18, 1993 (24)	12 0(2)	6 / (0)	0	0	0	0
09	Olivier Giroud	Chelsea FC (ENG)	Sep 30 1986 (31)	74 (31)	7 / (6)	0	(1)	0	0
07th	Antoine Griezmann	Atlético Madrid (SPA)	21 Mar 1991 (27)	54 (20)	7 / (7)	4th	0	0	0
10	Kylian Mbappé	Paris Saint-Germain FC	Dec 20, 1998 (19)	15 0(4)	7 / (6)	4th	(1) +1	0	0
20th	Florian Thauvin	Olympique Marseille	Jan 26, 1993 (25)	04 0(0)	1 / (0)	0	0	0	0
Coaching staff
	Didier Deschamps	Head coach (Sélectionneur)	Oct 15, 1968 (49)
	Guy Stéphan	Assistant coach	Oct 17, 1956 (61)

^(a) Club at the time of nomination

^(b) Age during the World Cup tournament

^(c) Number of games or goals before the start of the tournament (as of June 9, 2018)

^(d) Number of games or goals in this tournament

^(e)Number in brackets: up to and including quarter-finals; these were then deleted.

^(f) A Pogba goal against Australia was subsequently classified as an own goal by FIFA.

Deschamps had also named a group of eleven reservists from whom he could have replaced players from the 23-man squad if necessary. They are goalkeeper Benoît Costil ( Girondins Bordeaux ), defenders Mathieu Debuchy ( AS Saint-Étienne ), Kurt Zouma ( Stoke City ), Mamadou Sakho ( Crystal Palace ) and Lucas Digne (FC Barcelona), and Adrien Rabiot for midfield (Paris Saint-Germain), Moussa Sissoko (Tottenham Hotspur) and Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich) as well as the attackers Anthony Martial (Manchester United), Wissam Ben Yedder (Sevilla FC) and Alexandre Lacazette ( Arsenal FC ).

The French had to do without two players who were part of the Bleus tribe to the end due to injuries, namely Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal FC) and Dimitri Payet (Olympique Marseille).

Preparation, accommodation and premium regulation

Preparatory games were agreed from March 2018 against Colombia (2: 3), then against the World Cup hosts (3: 1) and against Ireland (2: 0), Italy (3: 1) and the USA (1: 1).

On June 11th, the French convoy moved into quarters in the “Hilton Garden Inn Moscow New Riga” hotel in Kostroma ( Istra district , Moscow Oblast ), just under 60 km west of Moscow . The small town has the advantage that Sheremetyevo Airport is not far away. The team has training opportunities in the "Glebowez Stadium" in neighboring Glebowski.

As has been the case since the European Championship in 2012, the players share a 30% share of the amount that FIFA will transfer to the French association in 2018. The prerequisite for this is reaching the quarter-finals. As a result of winning the title, the bonus totaled just under 10 million euros, i.e. around 430,000 euros per player.

Games at the World Cup finals

For the group draw, the French were placed seventh in Pot 1 when the pots were determined on the basis of the FIFA world rankings (October 2017).

Preliminary round

In group C , Peru , Denmark and Australia are the first opponents of the Bleus . Should France survive the preliminary round, a team from Group D ( Argentina , Croatia , Iceland or Nigeria ) will be the next opponent in the second round .

The French have played against Australia four times so far, most recently in October 2013 with a 6-0 win, against Peru even once - and lost 1-0 in Paris in April 1982 . France has never competed against either of them in a World Cup finals. The Australians were able to record their only victory in the Confederations Cup 2001 - also 1-0 - against the Bleus, which, however, won all other games there and won the competition.
With Denmark, on the other hand, they have already played 15 games, of which France have won eight and lost six. In the early days of football, this included the highest defeat in its international history, a 1:17 at the 1908 Olympic football tournament . These two national teams have already met twice in World Cup group games; In 1998 France won 2-1, the Danes 2-0 in 2002 .

rank	team	Gates	Points
1	France	3: 1	7th
2	Denmark	2: 1	5
3	Peru	2: 2	3
4th	Australia	2: 5	1

Sat, June 16, 2018, 12:00 p.m. CEST, in Kazan
France	-	Australia	2: 1 (0: 0)
Thursday, June 21, 2018, 5:00 p.m. CEST, in Yekaterinburg
France	-	Peru	1: 0 (1: 0)
Tue., June 26, 2018, 4:00 p.m. CEST, in Moscow
France	-	Denmark	0-0

In the opening match, Deschamps relied on an extremely young team, whose average age was 24.5 years and in which five players only had experience of a maximum of 15 international A matches. In a quite open game in which the team took on 4-3-3 and in which the coach replaced two “fresh” attackers after 70 minutes, France's winning goal came from an own goal by Aziz Behich , who deflected a shot from Pogba relatively close to the end. Deschamps then criticized that apart from the first quarter of an hour with four precise shots on goal, the attacking series Griezmann – Mbappé – Dembélé lacked speed: “The three-pointers only showed the kangaroos their baby teeth” . Accordingly, France Football only rated their performances with two (Dembélé), three (Griezmann) and four (Mbappé) - the top mark in France is ten - while goalkeeper Lloris and defensive midfielder Kanté were named as the only two who have already won the World Cup Level.

In the second game, in which goalkeeper Lloris moved up to the exclusive " Hunder Club " and the Équipe tricolore secured the knockout round early, the head coach changed the starting line-up to two positions, replacing Tolisso and Dembélé Matuidi in the attacking left midfield and Giroud as the storm tip. Tactically, this resulted in a 4-2-3-1 rather than a 4-3-3. In particular, the inclusion of Olivier Giroud paid off not only because the goal of the day was largely his account - Mbappé extended his deflected shot just inches from the goal line in the box. Rather, he proved to be an efficient ball saver and distributor both on the defensive and offensive, was "indispensable and as the No. 1 striker of the Bleus - him and no one else". His usual attacking partner Griezmann, on the other hand, remained pale again and was again not the switching station in the French offensive game. In particular, Kanté (grade 8), Varane, Hernández and Pogba (each graded 7) were further pluses of the team.

Lloris Pavard Varane Umtiti Hernández Kanté Matuidi Pogba Griezmann Mbappé Giroud Final round eleven

Against Denmark, Deschamps rebuilt by giving four players (goalkeeper Mandanda, Sidibé, Kimpembe and Lemar) their first World Cup appearance in his starting eleven, and later also the substitute Mendy. Umtiti, Mbappé and Pogba, Matuidi and Tolisso, who had been given a warning, only sat on the bench when the game kicked off. In a game against extremely deep Danes, France had barely created a chance to score, and none of the World Cup debutants showed a performance that made them particularly suitable for the upcoming round of 16. For France Football, therefore, the players who had to watch this time were among the winners, as well as Fekir, who was substituted on after 70 minutes and who was the only attacker who had at least demonstrated something like a will to win. Lemar, Griezmann (each with a grade of 2 out of 10), Dembélé and Giroud (each with the 3), on the other hand, counted the journal among the weakest French, who nevertheless finished the group stage as leaders. France Football also expressed its first clear criticism of the coach because he had not yet succeeded in “giving his team a face that promises good things for the upcoming knockout games”.

For the editors of L'Équipe , the conclusion at the end of the group stage leads to the question of why France showed such attack weaknesses. As far as the evaluation of the actors involved is concerned, the daily sports newspaper sees only three of them - Kanté and, to a small extent, Lloris and Pogba - at the height of their capabilities. Hernández, Giroud, Fekir and Varane are also among those who have been able to prove their wealth. In contrast, Matuidi, Umtiti and, first and foremost, Griezmann had disappointed greatly. She is expecting the breakthrough in the round of 16 from him in particular, who was still the tournament's best player and top scorer at the 2016 European Championship .

Round of 16

Against Argentina , the Bleus have a negative record with only two wins and three draws from eleven encounters. France's last success was over 32 years ago. The teams have met twice in the preliminary rounds of the World Cup, and France have lost to the South Americans twice: in Uruguay in 1930 with 1: 1 , in 1978 in Argentina with 1: 2 .

Sat., June 30, 2018, 4:00 p.m. CEST, in Kazan
France	-	Argentina	4: 3 (1: 1)

The French started with the same eleven players as against Peru; however, Matuidi was not positioned again on the left flank, but Deschamps returned to 4-3-3. This time the furious Bleus convinced, who “finally arrived at the World Cup” in a spectacular and varied game. The man of the game was the two-time goalscorer Kylian Mbappé, who also before the French 1-0 lead - Griezmann, who had already placed a free kick on the crossbar four minutes earlier, converted the penalty - could only be stopped illegally in the Argentine penalty area. Otherwise, the 19-year-old double goal scorer repeatedly presented the opposing defense with major problems due to his enormous speed. In addition, the full-backs Pavard and Hernández often reinforced the French offensive forces; the equalizer to 2-2 was a co-production of the two 22-year-old players.

Accordingly, France Football gave Mbappé an 8, Pavard, Hernández, Kanté and Matuidi a 7, Umtiti, Pogba and Griezmann a 6. There was a 5 for Lloris, who of course was powerless in the three goals against, Varane and Giroud, who only got better into the game in the second half. For Didier Deschamps this was the 80th international match as head coach; thus he is the sole record holder in the history of the national team.

Mbappé was the first under 20 since the 1958 World Cup to score more than one goal in a knockout game. Sixty years earlier, the only 17-year-old Pelé had managed to do this twice: in the final against Sweden and previously in the semi-finals - against France. Pelé insisted on congratulating Mbappé on Twitter after the final whistle . In the final, the Frenchman also drew level with the Brazilian in that he scored a goal there too.

Quarter finals

The French have dealt with Uruguay eight times in the past, the first time at the 1924 Olympic tournament when the South Americans became France's first international team partner. Against this opponent, the French record is negative with only one win and three defeats. This quarter-final is already the fourth meeting on the occasion of a World Cup after 1966 (1: 2), 2002 and 2010 (both 0: 0).

Fri., July 6, 2018, 4:00 p.m. CEST, in Nizhny Novgorod
France	-	Uruguay	2: 0 (1: 0)

Matuidi was suspended for this encounter due to two yellow cards; for him Tolisso was in the otherwise unchanged starting lineup. France prevailed against the South Americans, who did not have their injured striker Cavani , in an unspectacular match due to their secure defense and thanks to the slightly greater attacking power, with goalkeeper Muslera helping them with a gross mistake on the second goal. For France Football, the best were Lloris, Varane (grade 8), Pavard, Umtiti, Pogba and Griezmann (all 7) and once again especially the omnipresent Kanté (grade 9).

Semifinals

In this round, Belgium is the opponent waiting for the Bleus, against whom they have faced by far the most frequently in their 114-year international history. And again the French balance sheet is negative: France won 24 times, 19 times they were drawn, but their northern neighbor won 30 games. At the World Cup finals, however, there were only two clashes, and the French won each time: in 1938 in France in the first round 3-1 and in 1986 in Mexico in the game for third place 4-2 after extra time. The same applies to the only game between the two of them on the occasion of a European Championship finals , in which the Bleus defeated the "Red Devils" 5-0 in 1984 .

Tuesday, July 10, 2018, 8:00 p.m. CEST, in Saint Petersburg
France	-	Belgium	1: 0 (0: 0)

The Belgian coaching team includes Thierry Henry , who has been specifically taking care of the offensive forces since 2016, France's most successful national team scorer and also the player who has played the most world championship games for the Équipe Tricolore in four finals (1998 to 2010).

Didier Deschamps decided again for the eleven players of the preliminary round match against Peru and the round of 16, which meant that Tolisso had to vacate his place from the Uruguay game in favor of Matuidi. This team prevailed against their northern neighbors in an "entertaining semifinals ... with high speed and high-level play", with the Belgian offensive series Hazard / Lukaku / De Bruyne increasing a little bit against the "low and very good shifting French" seemed at a loss. The way to the goal was nailed up. ”It was in particular the outstanding goalkeeper Lloris, the central defenders Varane and Umtiti, the scorer of the decisive goal, and the midfield row Kanté / Pogba / Matuidi that the Belgians“ bit their teeth ”.

Endgame

The French starting XI in the World Cup final (from left to right). Above: Pogba, Umtiti, Hernández, Varane, Giroud, Lloris; below: Griezmann, Matuidi, Pavard, Kanté, Mbappé.

The Bleus are still unbeaten against Croatia (3 wins, 2 draws, no defeat). There were two matches in the continental tournaments; France won 2-1 in the 1998 World Cup semi-finals and in the 2004 European Championship preliminary round they split 2-2. The last (friendly) game between the two of them in March 2011 ended 0-0.

Sun., July 15, 2018, 5:00 p.m. CEST, in Moscow
France	-	Croatia	4: 2 (2: 1)

FIFA has appointed Argentine Néstor Pitana to referee the game, who had already directed both the French (in the quarter-finals) and the Croatians (in the round of 16 against Denmark) at this tournament. The Bleus started again with their regular eleven (see above), began particularly carefully against dangerous Croatian attackers and at the beginning of the first half showed unusual defensive weaknesses in duels (Pavard), conquering the ball (Kanté) and in the passing game. Nevertheless, thanks to two dormant balls from Griezmann, it went into the break with a narrow lead. After the restart, France got the game and opponents under control; The very early replacement of this time almost indisposed by Nzonzi, who was also endangered due to an early warning, contributed to this, but above all two successfully played and dryly completed goals by Pogba and Mbappé. Even a gift from goalkeeper Lloris to Mario Mandžukić did not turn the match around, so that the French finally earned the second world champion star.

For France Football, Griezmann (the only one with an 8), Varane, Hernandez, Pogba and Mbappé (each a 7), limited Umtiti and the defensively valuable Giroud (both the 6) were the strongest in the blue dress. The kicker also saw Griezmann (grade 1.5), Pogba and Mbappé (each 2) the strongest bleus, but rated Umtiti significantly better than Varane and set Giroud the bar for a classic center forward, although the Chelsea player was naturally poor (Grade 4.5) got away. At least four French people - together with three Belgians, two Croatians, one Colombian and one Swedes - were included in the “Top Eleven of the World Cup” of the German trade journal, namely Varane, Kanté, Griezmann and Mbappé.

Awards

There were three official awards for members of the French squad: Antoine Griezmann received the Silver Shoe as the second best tournament scorer and the Bronze Ball as the third best player, Kylian Mbappé received the trophy as the best young footballer. In addition, Pavard's goal in the round of 16 against Argentina was voted the goal of the tournament.

Didier Deschamps was also able to add another honor to his Palmarès : after Mário Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer, he is only the third person to become world champion both as a player and as a coach. In September he was also named world coach of the year . And at the end of the year, seven French were in the 30-player selection for the Ballon d'Or 2018 : six world champions (Lloris, Varane, Kanté, Pogba, Mbappé, Griezmann) as well as Karim Benzema, an ex-national player who has been playing for three years now was no longer considered by the Bleus. Ultimately, goalkeeper Lloris came in 29th, Pogba 15th, Kanté 11th, Varane 7th, Mbappé 4th and Griezmann 3rd.

Notes and evidence

1. ↑ Le Monde, for example, spoke of a “ brilliantly played out and crushing victory ”.
2. ↑ see pars pro toto the critical assessment of September 4, 2017 at leparisien.fr
3. ↑ See, for example, L'Équipe / Gérard Ejnès: La belle histoire. L'équipe de France de football. L'Équipe, Issy-les-Moulineaux 2004, ISBN 2-951-96053-0 , p. 108f. and 202, and “ Les Bleus face à leur bête noire ” from October 7, 2017 from nrpyrenees.fr, which refers not only to France's repeated failure in qualifying matches against Bulgaria, but also to its extremely negative away record with this opponent.
4. ↑ Regulations at fifa.com
5. ↑ Article “ Roulez, jeunesse! “From June 15, 2018 at francefootball.fr
6. ↑ according to the article “ List of the 23 blues for the world championship ” from May 17, 2018 at lequipe.fr
7. ↑ according to the report of December 2, 2017 at fff.fr
8. ↑ fifa.com: 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia - Team Base Camps
9. ↑ Article "Une (belle) carotte pour les Bleus" in France Football from June 19, 2018, p. 4
10. ↑ Article “Everything's going well so far” in France Football of December 5, 2017, pp. 38–42
11. ↑ Article " An attack that still needs to be oiled " from June 16, 2018 at francefootball.fr
12. ^ Match scores against Australia from francefootball.fr
13. ↑ Article “ The winners and the losers of France against Peru ” from June 22, 2018 at francefootball.fr
14. ^ Match scores against Peru from francefootball.fr
15. ↑ The line-ups for France against Denmark from June 26, 2018 at francefootball.fr
16. ↑ ^{a b} " The winners and the losers of France against Denmark " from June 26, 2018 at francefootball.fr
17. ^ Match scores against Denmark from francefootball.fr
18. ↑ " Why the Équipe de France is so weak to attack " from June 27, 2018 at lequipe.fr
19. ↑ “ The Bleus barometer after the first round of the World Cup ” from June 27, 2018 at lequipe.fr
20. ↑ so the kicker in his game report from June 30, 2018
21. ↑ Match report from June 30, 2018 at francefootball.fr
22. ^ Match scores against Argentina from francefootball.fr
23. ^ Werner Skrentny: Football World Cup 1958 Sweden. AGON, Kassel 2002, ISBN 3-89784-192-4 , pp. 76 and 80
24. ↑ " Pelé congratulates Mbappé on his doublet " on June 30, 2018 at francefootball.fr
25. ^ Match scores against Uruguay from francefootball.fr
26. ↑ Quotes from the game report in Kicker on July 10, 2018; the individual player scores against Belgium at France Football and L'Équipe on the same day.
27. ^ Match scores against Croatia from francefootball.fr
28. ↑ Kicker Sportmagazin from July 16, 2018, p. 23 (individual scores of the final) and 28 (team of the tournament)
29. ↑ " Pavard's dream goal chosen to be Goal of the Tournament " at fifa.com
30. ↑ " Ballon d'Or 2018 - La France en force " from October 9 at francefootball.fr

Web links

• The national team on the side of the French association FFF (French)