Unsteady, but looking to buck the trend
The last four World Cup winners from Europe have all failed to progress past the group stage in the following tournament
NEW DELHI: As France get ready for the 22nd iteration of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar four years after winning the ultimate prize in Russia, a fundamental question looms large: what will it take to retain the trophy?
No team since the Brazil of Pele, Garrincha and Mario Zagallo, dazzling us with their mesmerising mastery in 1958 and 1962, has won back-to-back World Cups after all. For 60 years now, there have been some outstanding teams that have graced football’s biggest stage and lifted the glittering trophy but haven’t backed it up with another successful campaign four years down the line. Not Diego Maradona’s Argentina. Not Ronaldo’s Brazil. Not the tiki-taka maestros of Spain.
In fact, the last three World Cups make for an even grimmer reading as the defending champions (Italy, Spain and Germany were winners of the 2006, 2010 and 2014 editions respectively) have been ousted at the group stage. France, of course, need not look beyond their own experience as title holders going into the 2002 campaign to understand the pitfalls of success, suffering the ignominy of a groupstage exit following a shock loss to newcomers Senegal in the opener in Seoul, South Korea. That talisman Zinedine Zidane was battling an injury had an impact obviously, but the other stars in that Les Bleus set-up should have still ensured that they advanced to the knockouts at the very least.
So, it is with history stacked against them that France set off on their journey in the Arabian Peninsula. The two-time champions have faced enough hardships since their World Cup triumph in Moscow to know the enormity of the challenge awaiting them. They lost in a penalty shootout to Switzerland to bow out at the Round of 16 stage of the European Championships last year.
They also finished third in their group in the 2022/23 UEFA Nations League, which means they won’t be able to defend the title they won in 2021. They have won only one of their last six matches. Coach Didier Deschamps, though, doesn’t seem to be worried by their recent run of form.
“We’re the defending world champions. When you’re at the very top, it’s difficult to do any better,” Deschamps told the FIFA website in October.
“It’s perfectly normal for a team to go on slightly less successful runs, but France remain a really competitive force and are among the top teams in Europe and the world.”
The injuries to N’golo Kante and Paul Pogba haven’t helped France’s cause. Both of them played integral roles in the midfield in 2018 but will be mere spectators to the action in Doha. In their absence, the focus will entirely be on the star forward line of Karim Benzema, Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann. Each of them is a matchwinner in his own right, but whether they can click as a collective remains to be seen. They weren’t able to do so in the Euros last year, a decisive factor in their premature exit.
With Deschamps stating that he will prefer a 4-3-1-2 formation at the World Cup, Griezmann will most likely slot in behind Benzema and Mbappe.