France came into the 2022 World Cup with several high-profile first-team players missing. After watching them lose 4-2 on penalties to Argentina, following a thrilling 3-3 final, you’d have been forgiven for thinking the entire team was similarly absent, at least until they came alive in the last 10 minutes of normal time.
France’s quest to become just the third team to retain the World Cup looked ambitious when the tournament started. Shorn of Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante, Presnel Kimpembe, Mike Maignan and Christoper Nkunku. Injuries then struck down squad members Karim Benzema and Lucas Hernandez.
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But Didier Deschamps’ side made believers out of the world as they stormed to the final. Apart from a 1-0 upset loss to Tunisia, a dead rubber where they started a team of back-up players, they never looked back after hammering Australia 4-1 in their opener.
Kylian Mbappe made good on his promise to emerge as the best player in the world, racking up eight goals and two assists at the tournament including scoring only the second World Cup final hat-trick in history. Olivier Giroud walked into the history books too, surpassing Thierry Henry’s goalscoring record for the national side. The ex-Premier League star’s goal in the quarter-final put England out of the competition.
There were also career revivals for Adrien Rabiot and Ousmane Dembele, talented players whose promise was seen to be fading at club level. The greatest reboot of all was Antoine Griezmann shifting from inconsistent forward to attacking midfield genius. His creativity was a key part of a run to the final few saw coming.
Yet the magic that got France to a showpiece game against Argentina seemed to elude them for much of the match. Giroud and Dembele were ignominiously hooked on the 40th minute, the latter having given away a penalty. You could argue bad luck had gone against him, with replays showing he barely touched Angel Di Maria, if at all.
But there was no luck involved in Argentina’s blistering second, when a superb passing move involving Lionel Messi, Julian Alvarez and Alexis Mac Allister ended with Di Maria stroking the ball home. It summed up a weirdly passive display from France. The eventual winners cut through them like a sniper rifle through a sponge on the way to scoring a goal that met precious little resistance.
Had the absence of so many of their tried and tested superstars finally caught up with Deschamps’ side? Perhaps. If you go down the list of sides that competed at this World Cup, precious few would have still reached the final when shorn of so much quality.
KYLIAN MBAPPE EQUALISES FOR FRANCE IN THE WORLD CUP FINAL 🇫🇷🏆
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Kante and Pogba were the midfield that lifted this iconic trophy four years ago. Benzema is the holder of the Ballon d’Or. Nkunku is a sought-after prodigy on the verge of a move to Chelsea. Hernandez is a World Cup and Champions League winner. That group not being available was bound to have some impact. If anything, it is actually impressive that their cavernous absence was not felt until the final.
But it does not excuse their slow first 80 minutes. This France side, the one actually in Qatar, was good enough to reach a World Cup final. The fact they couldn’t match Argentina for quality is one thing. But the fact they only matched them for effort with 10 minutes to go is quite another. Some of the blame will have to fall on Deschamps. But in that French dressing room, the players will know they didn’t do enough for much of the game.
It was all the more frustrating when one saw the devastating form they found when things were at their most desperate. The frenetic last 10 minutes in which Mbappe netted twice to hand his side hope. The gripping extra time period, where the PSG prodigy once again popped up to cancel out an apparent Messi winner. France showed all the spirit needed to be world champions in that period.
This is a collective failure from France, but It doesn’t have to be a fatal one. There is youthful quality available. Mbappe, Nkunku, Eduardo Camavinga, Ibrahima Konate, Aurelien Tchouameni and William Saliba are all 23 or under. They will likely get another crack or two at football’s biggest competition. What they must do now is use this disappointment as motivation. They must never again let Les Bleus lack effort on the big stage.
France’s achievements at the 2022 World Cup were rather special. People won’t comprehend just how special for a while. The post-game hubbub is rarely kind to the loser in a World Cup final. But to reach the biggest game in the sport despite missing half a starting lineup’s worth of your best players is incredible. It simply wasn’t to be. But what France did do is learn some valuable lessons that can help them at future tournaments. Now the only question is, will they heed those lessons?
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