Griezmann behind France’s solid start

France have shaken off the curse of the defending champions at the World Cup by qualifying for the knockout phase with a game to spare, largely due to Antoine Griezmann’s return to his best.

Griezmann has played as an attacking midfielder rather than a pure forward, brilliantly making the link between midfielders Aurelien Tchouameni and Adrien Rabiot.

“He covers a lot of space, he has the ability to defend and to make others play.” centre back Raphael Varane told reporters.