FIFA World Cup: France deserve plaudits for staying afloat in bumpy tournament

Kylian Mbappe stepped up to the podium to collect his trophy for the Golden Boot . A hat-trick in the FIFA World Cup final, first since Geoff Hurst in 1966, had taken him ahead of Argentina’s Lionel Messi. French president Emmanuel Macron tried to console him after the defeat on penalties. Mbappe reluctantly walked forward and posed for a photo with the trophy. FIFA World Cup: Fixtures | Results | Points Table | Squads | Records He didn’t linger for long alongside Enzo Fernandez (Young Player of the Year), Emiliano Martinez (Golden Glove) and Messi (Golden Ball) who collected the other individual accolades in Qatar. After collecting the second-place medals at the ceremony that followed, France players stepped aside and made way for Messi-led Argentina to end the country’s 36-year wait for the World Cup trophy. For Mbappe and the French team, this was a bitter end to what has been a tumultuous and dramatic campaign. One could argue they had no business even being there.They were already without the services of key personnel in N’Golo Kante, Paul Pogba, Karim Benzema, Presnel Kimpembe, Lucas Hernandez and Christopher Nkunku with a variety of injury issues. Then, Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot sat out the semi-final win over Morocco with a virus. Before the final, Raphael Varane, Ibrahima Konate and Kingsley Coman missed training with a flu. “The whole squad has been facing a tricky situation for a while now, maybe that had a physical and psychological impact,” manager Didier Deschamps said after the defeat. Also Read | Messi immortalises legacy, Morocco make history and brand Qatar grows despite criticism “But I had no concerns about the players who started the match tonight. They were 100 percent fit but we only had four days since the last match so perhaps there is some tiredness. That’s not an excuse but we didn’t show the same energy as previous matches and for the first hour we weren’t in the match,” he added. “In those first 70 minutes or so, we were playing a very aggressive and dynamic opponent and we weren’t at the same level for a number of reasons.” All said and done, France have every reason to be proud to get there - however the final finished.

For 80 minutes, they were not in the final. For 80 minutes, Argentina were coasting and looked to be headed towards a comfortable 2-0 win. For 80 minutes, France looked dead and buried. And then, out of nowhere, Mbappe scored from the penalty spot and then lashed home a well-struck volley. 97 seconds is all it took Mbappe to get defending champions France back from the dead. Just when Argentina appeared to have the winner in extra time, from Messi no less, France won another penalty and Mbappe scored a third to force penalties.

After the lottery that are penalties, it was Messi and Argentina who grinned in glee at lifting the FIFA World Cup. It was France who were denied the opportunity to successfully defend their title - something that continues to be unmatched since 1962. It was Mbappe and rest of the valiant French squad who could only watch on with plenty of ‘what ifs’ in their mind. What if they had started better? What if they had controlled the midfield better? What if the penalties by Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni were more precise? And maybe the biggest, what if Randal Kolo Muani had scored in stoppage time of extra time?

Even though France return without their crown, they can take solace from the fact that they got to the final and came close to lifting the title again. Even more importantly, they did so with many key players missing and needed the acumen of Didier Deschamps to rely on man management and not tactical sheets to get the best out of Les Bleus. [caption id=“attachment_11834701” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Kylian Mbappe scored eight goals to win the Golden Boot at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. AP[/caption] Also read | France coach Didier Deschamps rues ‘cruel’ loss against Argentina Antoine Griezmann, the top scorer at Euro 2016, is prime example of that. He dropped away from the opposition box and took over the role of midfield playmaker in the absence of Pogba, Kante and Benzema. The 31-year-old operated to the right of Tchouameni in a midfield trio, with Mbappe, Olivier Giroud and Ousmane Dembele in front of him. Griezmann’s adapted role is one of multiple moving parts that was this French team. “Every game, every action is like me saying thank you to him. I want to do everything to make him proud of his number seven,” said the Atletico Madrid man on Deschamps.

As Deschamps’ future remains uncertain, and Zinedine Zidane one of the candidates to replace him, there is strong cause for the French football federation to stick with him. Since the disastrous 2010 World Cup, they’ve been to three finals of four major tournaments and also won the UEFA Nations League last year. Unlike many other teams that have older players at the heart of things, France can work towards the future with a young team. Mbappe (23), Eduardo Camavinga (20), Tchouameni (22), Konate (23), Youssouf Fofana (23), Upamecano (24), Jules Kounde (24), Muani (24), Dembele (25), Marcus Thuram (25), Theo Hernandez (25), Lucas Hernandez (26) and Coman (26) are all capable of going for two more World Cups. It remains to be seen how well the French ship is steered after a bit of a bumpy ride at the Lusail Stadium. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News ,  India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .