Kylian Mbappé's four goals in World Cup group play have him in the running to win the Golden Boot. He leads France into the knockout round against Sweden on Tuesday.Al Bello/Getty Images
With three wins from three and a tournament-best goal differential of plus eight, it’s fair to say that France managed to live up to the hype as tournament favourites during the World Cup group stage.
So much so in fact that Norway didn’t even bother trying to win their match last Friday.
With both teams already qualified for the knockout stages, and only first place in Group I to play for, the Norwegians made 10 changes and mailed it in as the French ran out comfortable winners.
“They’re probably going to win against us,” star striker Erling Haaland said before the match. “They’re probably going to win the whole thing.”
But if French captain Kylian Mbappé is indeed going to be hoisting the trophy on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, his players will have to do something no team has done before in the 96-year history of the World Cup. This year’s expanded tournament features an extra knockout round, meaning that anyone with aspirations of being crowned world champions will require five consecutive do-or-die victories to do so.
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Not that France will be unduly worried after rolling through the competition thus far, winning all three round-robin matches for the first time since 1998, when it claimed the first of its two world titles. Back then France also had a goal differential of plus eight, off the strength of nine goals for and one against versus this year’s return of 10 and two.
While the team’s backline has shone, it’s France’s ability with the ball that puts the opposition on high alert, with its combination of creativity, dribbling and blistering pace. Nowhere is that more readily apparent than with its three musketeers for the new millennium – Mbappé, Michael Olise and Ousmane Dembélé – with each claiming a man-of-the-match award in the first three contests.
If Mbappé’s prodigious scoring ability has him positioned as the King of France – his four goals put him in the running for the Golden Boot – then Olise is most definitely the power behind the throne. The Bayern Munich winger has a team-leading three assists so far, and has been able to pull the strings for his higher-profile teammate, with Mbappé claiming “it’s so easy” to play with him.
And if for whatever reason that dynamic duo is having an off day, France can always lean on Dembélé, the reigning Ballon d’Or winner, who exploded to life against Norway, netting a first-half hat trick in just 32 minutes.
With three assists in the World Cup, France's Michael Olise is having a field day setting up his accomplished teammates.Mattia Ozbot/Getty Images
Double digits in goals – with World Cup scoring at its highest per-game average since 1958 when Pele won his first World Cup – is a reflection of how Didier Deschamps wants his team to play.
Eyeing his third World Cup triumph to match the peerless Brazilian’s total, the French head coach expects his team to continue its relentless attack heading into Tuesday’s round-of-32 matchup with Sweden.
“We have to score one more goal, not give up what we’re capable of doing,” Deschamps said through a translator Monday. “We’ve conceded a few too many chances. Every match has a different scenario. Can you succeed like that? We did it four years ago.
“We have the ability to create danger and hurt the opposition. That’s our strength and I want us to keep that strength.”
Focusing on offence in Qatar, France reached a second straight World Cup final on the strength of a tournament-leading 16 goals, falling to Argentina on penalties in one of the greatest finals in the competition’s history.
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Deschamps, who returned to France following the death of his mother last week – with assistant Guy Stéphan taking charge for the Norway game – said that the team will go into the match against Sweden with striker Marcus Thuram out with a calf injury, while midfielder N’Golo Kanté’s fitness is in doubt.
Midfielder Adrien Rabiot added that with France’s offensive mindset, his team has to be mindful of getting caught on the counterattack as the team commits numbers forward. However, he says that hasn’t been the case so far.
“Obviously, we gave away chances, but I didn’t find there was a major imbalance,” he said. “It requires adaptations and our back four have maintained a certain discipline. As we move forward in the competition, we may have to adjust certain things because knockout football is different from the group stage.”
France – and Rabiot – don’t need to think back too far to be reminded of that. Fresh off its 2018 World Cup win, France entered the 2020 European Championship – played in 2021 because of the pandemic – as the clear favourites to add another title to its legacy.
However, the vagaries of knockout football came knocking for the French, with Switzerland scoring twice in the final nine minutes before winning on penalties following a dramatic 3-3 draw in the round of 16.
“That experience helps us,” said Rabiot, who played all 120 minutes of that match. “Those who were there pass it on to the rest of the group.
“That’s why we don’t relax and take every match seriously. Against Switzerland we may have been a little superficial and we paid for it. Anything can happen in a single match.”