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Journalism of Courage
France is the best team in the world: not because it has the best players (though arguably, it does) but because France’s talent pool is unmatched in modern football. At almost every position on the football pitch, France has multiple players who are more than capable of playing at the highest level.
This has meant that despite a spate of injuries that has impacted the squad in this year’s Fifa World Cup, France has romped to its second final in four years, becoming the first team in 20 years to achieve this feat. Notably, many of the injured players were sureshot first-teamers, including some who were pivotal to France’s victorious campaign in Russia, four years ago. For any other team on the planet, such injuries might have been tournament-ending. But not France.
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The Indian Express takes a look at France’s success and the incredible national talent pool of footballers behind it.
Injuries
Some of France’s major absentees due to injury include Paul Pogba and N’golo Kante, magnificent midfield duo and pillars of the 2018 team, backup goalkeeper and Hugo Lloris’s successor, Mike Maignan, talented forward Christopher Nkunku, centre-back and leader, Presnel Kimpembe, youngsters Boubacar Kamara and Weseley Fofana, and 2022 Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema.
Furthermore, only 13 minutes into France’s World Cup opener, left-back Lucas Hernandez limped off the pitch with a serious ACL injury.
France’s playing squad has not been free from injury either, with champion centre-back Rafael Varane and wily midfielder Adrian Rabiot missing games. Multiple players have also battled illness over the course of the tournament.
The question now is, how did France play so well, despite missing such important players?
Kylian Mbappe, France’s 23-year old talisman
Having a superstar always helps. Having arguably the best player in the world, helps a lot. Kylian Mbappe has played like the transcendent star he is billed to be. Not only has he done all the things expected of a star striker (namely, get goal contributions), his play has been a treat to watch for every football fan. France’s games have been headlined by moments of brilliance by the young man from PSG, whose speed and skill has made opponents base their entire game plan around him.
Take for instance, Morocco. A talented team having a dream World Cup, Morocco started with a back three instead of their usual back four formation, to provide extra cover against Mbappe’s pace. This led to them getting overrun in the midfield very early on in the game, conceding a goal in just the fifth minute. It was only after substituting injured centre-back Romain Saiss that Morocco wrestled back a semblance of control in the game. While Mbappe himself was not having his best game (until he displayed a sublime bit of skill to assist France’s second goal later in the match), his aura pushed Morocco into making decisions that eventually cost them.
A system that works
But France’s system goes a long way to maximise Mbappe’s strength and minimise his weaknesses. Unlike many elite teams, France does not employ a high press, choosing to instead let the opponent bring the ball into the midfield where they suddenly spring to action. This does two things.
First, it mitigates Mbappe’s biggest weakness – his lazy pressing and poor defensive instincts out of possession. France simply excuses Mbappe from any defensive dirty work, choosing to instead keep a compact midfield and backline, winning balls further back.
Second, by excusing Mbappe from his defensive work and always keeping him in line with the opponent’s defence, France also maintains a terrifying threat in transition. Some of France’s best moments in the World Cup have come after winning the ball and quickly passing to Mbappe who then has acres of space to run into and make defenders look silly.
Through a combination of accident and design, France has arrived upon a system that works – they are defensively compact, almost luring opponents into their half, before manically winning the ball, and rushing forward with pace and purpose.
The French talent factory
Having an other-worldly superstar along with an effective style of play can go a long way in helping a team withstand its injury problems. However, a system is only as good as the players in it and even Mbappe will struggle to carry a team of duds to the finals. This is where France’s incredible depth has come into play.
Replacing Pogba and Kante, Rabiot and 22-year Aurelien Tchouameni have been solid. Theo Hernandez, who has replaced brother and more defensive minded Lucas, has provided much needed attacking threat down the left hand side, either finding himself in space that Mbappe’s magnetism creates or creating space for the star forward himself.
At the centre-back, Dayot Upamecano, Ibrahima Konate and Rafael Varane have been rotated, and each of them has been as solid as the other. Benzema’s replacement, veteran centre forward Olivier Giroud, has been perfect for this French team, providing goals, languid yet effective link-up play and raw physicality in the opponent’s box. Nkunku’s replacement, Randal Kolo Muani also scored a pivotal goal in the semi final.
A testament to France’s talent pool is the fact that many of these “replacements” would have easily made the squads and indeed the first teams of other countries. Moreover, there are still talented players France has omitted from its squad despite being fit, notably striker Anthony Martial, midfielder Tanguy Ndombele, and fullbacks Lucas Digne and Ferland Mendy.
Such depth of talent is unparalleled in football. Theoretically, even if France suffered injuries to all three centre-forwards in their squad (Benzema, Giroud and Kolo Muani), they could push Mbappe to the middle and play Marcus Thuram in the left and be just as good as they are now. Alternatively, had these injuries occurred before the tournament, Anthony Martial could slot in.
France: the gold-standard for developing talent
Many countries “get lucky,” producing a bunch of talented players at approximately the same period of time and thus enjoying tremendous success. Croatia is a prime example, even if they never had the depth this French team has. But France’s case is different.
The current crop of players span a wide range of ages, from youthful 20-year olds like Eduardo Camavinga to dependable veterans like Steve Mandanda (37), indicating that top talent is constantly being bred into the team.
More importantly, France benefits from a system of talent acquisition and player development that is possibly the best in the world. The famed Clairefontaine Academy is widely considered to be the gold-standard for footballing academies across the world, with England being just one of many countries that have borrowed heavily from it.
Players as young as 13 are scouted and brought to train at Clairefontaine. These players are the cream of French footballing talent, and they enjoy the benefits of world class training, sports science, nutrition and anything that makes players great, from a very early age.
The Football Federation runs 13 more, geographically distributed, state of the art academies across France, purely catering to the youth. Boys leave their families and train there from Monday to Friday, with academics a part of the larger curriculum.
France’s national academy system has also created a culture of excellence across French football. Young kids aspire to be the next Mbappe or Thierry Henry, both products of Clairefontaine. Local clubs are thus breeding grounds for young talent. Even making it to the national system requires rounds of physical tests, interviews, and medicals, meaning that children as young as seven play organised football to prepare for it. Right from the grassroots level, French football is focussed on finding the next star.
A testament to the strength of France’s setup is that out of the 26-player squad, only four players – Griezmann, the Hernandez brothers, and Upamecano – broke through outside the French system. Rest of the players have all come through the ranks of French youth football.
A culture which breathes football alongside a thoughtfully developed and well-funded system of developing talent is key to France’s seemingly ceaseless stream of top level football talent, talent which has carried France to the World Cup final despite all the injury setbacks. As Rafael Varane told the Washington Post, “Each generation transmits to the other one, it is natural.”
With the age of its stars, and the crop of players emerging, France’s dominance in world football will seemingly continue for a long time.
