France: Retaining the Trophy Done by Few

In July 2018, in a packed Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, France became champions of the world for a second time, defeating Croatia 4-2. It was a deserved victory for Les Bleu, navigating their way through the tournament, beating Argentina, Uruguay and Belgium on their route to the final. Blessed with the likes of Paul Pogba, N'golo Kante, Raphael Varane and Antoine Griezmann, France has produced another generation of players that has matched the class of 1998. Not to mention the emergence of Kylian Mbappe, who instantly became a worldwide phenomenon, scoring four goals plus the final, becoming the first teenager since Pele to score in a World Cup Final. 

France has been a regular in the World Cup. However, in the last twenty-five years, they have become a force in the international scene. On Sunday, France will make their fourth appearance in the World Cup Final in just seven appearances. Their first time was in 1998 on home soil, where they defeated Brazil 3-0, with Zinedine Zidane scoring twice. In 2006, they faced Italy in Berlin, Germany, where Zidane made the infamous headbutt on Marco Materazzi, receiving a red card in his final game. The Italian went on to win the game on penalties. After twelve years, they were back on the podium in Russia, beating Croatia 4-2 to add a second star to their crest. From the 1998 team that had Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry, Marcel Desailly, Patrick Vieria and Lillian Thuram to this current crop, France is the biggest producer of footballers in the world.

As defending champions, France was one of the favourites to win it but suffered significant injuries before the tournament started, with Kante, Pogba, Christopher Nkunku and Presnel Kimpembe missing out. History was on their side, as the past three defending champions in the World Cup have failed to make it out of their group. The so-called 'Winners Curse'. Not to mention France's history of drama and combusting in tournaments, with the 2010 World Cup being an example. Despite the injury worries, France was in a group that contained Denmark, who have beaten France twice in the Nations League, Tunisia and Australia. Similar to 2018. France should still make it out of the group.

In their first group game against Australia, France conceded first and lost defender Lucas Hernandez due to injury. However, they fought back and won convincingly 4-1. Facing Denmark in their second game, Kylian Mbappe scored twice to give the French three points and a place in the last 16, ending the 'Winners Curse'. They made heavy changes for the final group game against Tunisia and lost 1-0. The defeat did not matter in the end, as they topped the group with six points and a better goal difference than second-place Australia. 

In their first knockout tie against Poland, France breezed past the Poles, winning 3-1, with Olivier Giroud becoming France's all-time leading scorer. In the quarterfinals, they had a tough test against England. Though the English troubled them, France found a way and won 2-1, with Aurelien Tchouameni and Giroud getting on the scoresheet. Facing Morocco in the semifinals, France was the 'away' team as the Moroccan supporters outnumbered the French support. They silenced the atmosphere, winning the game 2-0 from Theo Hernandez and Randal Kolo Muani, who came off the bench. 

France is the quintessential tournament team. They have the players to kill off opponents with great attackers but are also a frustrating team to play against. Usually give their opponents the initiative to break them down and have often failed, like their semifinal game against Morocco. Credit has to go to coach Didier Deschamps, who has become the fourth coach to lead a team to successive World Cup Finals. Having been France's coach since 2012, Deschamps has been a stable figure for the national team and has only lost two times in the World Cup. He is a conservative coach, but this tournament has pushed him tactically, and his man management and he has succeeded. 

Fortunately for him, some players from 2018 are still around, like captain Hugo Lloris, now France's all-time appearance maker during the tournament. Raphael Varane has been a stable figure at the back, with either Dayot Upamecano or Ibrahima Konate being dependable partners in defence. Konate made the most tackles in the French squad with 15. Adrien Rabiot and Aurelien Tchouameni have been everpresent in midfield, with Tchouameni playing every minute of the tournament, with the most touches in the midfield third for France and the most completed passes.

Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud have been fantastic during the tournament. Having not scored in their 2018 triumph, Giroud has stepped up for France and continues to be a presence in attack, scoring four times and the most non-penalty expected goals with 3.4. Antonie Griezmann has excelled out of position as a creative player in midfield. He has made the most assists for France with three, 20 key passes and 31 shot-creating actions. Kylian Mbappe is France's X-factor and is now more mature with the same blistering speed. He is the joint-top scorer with five goals, took the most shots with 25, shot-creating actions with 43 and dribbles with 21. Given won the World Cup as a teenager, this stage is nothing new, but Mbappe still has the same vigour to create more history. 

France is the slight favourite coming to this final. They have become the first team since Brazil to make it to successive finals, the first defending champion since Brazil to make it to the final and could become the first team to successfully retain for the first time since Brazil in 1962. The French support will be outnumbered by the Argentine support, but it will not faze this French team as they have experience going to tricky atmospheres. Facing Argentina, they are now the antagonists to Lionel Messi's quest for football immortality. France beat them in 2018 on their route to glory, and they meet again in the final for the first time. Mbappe, Girezmann, Giroud, Varane and Lloris have been here before with new players coming in. Can they spoil Messi's quest and become the new international dynasty?