It's almost time for the World Cup. Before the tournament, we'll be previewing each of the top 15 teams by FIFA rankings that made the tournament. Why the top 15? Because that's how many we needed to do in order for the USMNT to make the cut. You can read all of our previews here.
Nobody fell in love with France this year, for the same reason nobody fell in love with France in 2022 or 2018. Under Didier Deschamps, the football manager most likely to make you think of Jerry Sloan, the French are deep in flair but play as though every goal they surrender results in the death of a puppy. Deschamps is best described as an "arch-pragmatist," which is the polite way of saying, "He doesn't celebrate his own birthday so don't expect him to celebrate yours."
And yet the French won the works in 2018 and came within a penalty shootout of winning again in 2022, which serves to explain why they are the favorite again this year, and also serves to explain their frustrating 2020 and 2024 European Championships performances. The rolling assumption is that this is a remorseless juggernaut that succeeds wildly except when it doesn't, and chooses to resist the impulse to play with the panache their roster endlessly promises.
But this is Deschamps's last national team, as he has decided not to sign a new deal after this tournament, and his time as international football's Gregg Popovich will be stamped hard by him taking the best team and trying to see it through to the end. Whether you find Deschamps charming or coal-dusted, his teams know who and what they are. They are the proper favorites on rep, and even though Spain, Portugal and Argentina are not far away, the French have nearly everything a favorite should have.
Except, of course, Antoine Griezmann, the man who made everything work, and a goalkeeper who can be fully trusted in all matters and situations. They could fake not having a keeper, but Griezmann's cerebral wizardries won't be easily replaced, and that absence will be seen quickly enough in a tough group that includes goofy-ass Senegal, scary robot Erling Haaland and Norway, and park-the-bus specialist Iraq. If they Euro this competition, the French will be cranky and for good reason, but if they World Cup this World Cup, Deschamps will be a hero for three lifetimes. And you'll be able to tell because he'll be the one who looks like he has bone spurs in both heels and his ass, so that sitting and standing will be equally painful.
Who Is Their Main Guy?
That would be the highly popular Kylian Mbappé, as opposed to the Kylian Mbappé who is being run out of Real Madrid by angry fans and a horrendously confused management that is about to hire José Mourinho to give the operation some normalcy—and stop that laughing. Mbappé's pace and creativity on is well chronicled, but France hasn't had a true target man since Olivier Giroud turned 58 years old. Indeed, "main guy" might be a bit lofty because France's entire front line is almost certainly the mightiest in the tournament. Between Michael Olise, Marcus Thuram, Ousmane Dembélé and the emerging Rayan Cherki, France has enough attacking flair to power the Senegalese and Iraqis (Haaland is a separate category), plus Mbappé, who even in his current role as the Madridistas' chief crap-catcher is the zenith of the French flair machine.
Who Is Their Main Non-Scoring Guy?
Maybe Aurélien Tchouaméni. If the French have an area of concern (and they do—two, in fact), it is in the mercurial but not-always reliable midfield as a whole. It could have been N'golo Kanté four years ago, but he is 35 now, and Cherki, who could be that guy for Deschamps's last run, will have to show that he is during group play. 31-year-old Adrien Rabiot is a constant, and Manu Koné is hitting his chronological prime, but this is the one area in which the French have to punch uphill against, say, the Spanish or Portuguese.
Who Is Most Likely To Break Out?
Cherki, who showed enough flash during Manchester City's abortive run at the Premier League title Arsenal eventually won. He might already be too well known, but he could have the kind of impact that allows Mbappé to glow as the tournament goes on. Forward Désiré Doué, voted the best player in Europe under 21, is another excellent consideration, if Deschamps can be convinced to stop riding the brakes. He can't, so Doue might have a tougher time being that guy, but France is deep enough to have multiple option here.
Who Is Most Likely To Eat Shit?
If he has a bad tournament, Mbappé, since he is already dining on it at Madrid, but the other possibility is goalkeeper Mike Maignan, who seems fully fit after a formidable year at AC Milan. He is among the most imposing keepers in the world, but the alternative to being brilliant at this level is to be less than brilliant and be blamed for failure at an inappropriate moment. It's not the way to bet, mind you, because Maignan is good, but the job is retrofitted for that sort of thing.
How Can They Win It All?
By playing up to their copious capabilities. This is the best team, top to bottom, the midfield conundrum notwithstanding. Barring health issues, they have the most vibrant and impressive 26-player roster of the 48. Maybe if the France Football Federation can get Deschamps liquored up before important games and convince him to abandon his 4-2-3-1 for a more tactically risky fuck it, guys, just go have some fun. That wouldn't be prudent and it would surely be out of his well-cemented character, but to see them playing one match with the FIGJGHSF formation would be worth everything short of the mega-gouge-y ticket prices.
