France’s road to the 2022 World Cup final
‘Les Bleus’ were tipped by many to go far in the tournament and Didier Deschamps’ men haven’t disappointed.
Who are the favorites to win the 2022 Qatar World Cup? Many analysts and soccer pundits included France among the top three teams to win the tournament, while others chose Germany or England as the European sides with the most chances of lifting the trophy together with Brazil and Argentina.
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However, Les Bleus didn’t seem to be in their best shape during the previous months before the start of the World Cup: they lost three, drew two, and only won one of their last seven games.
Moreover, the reigning champions flew to Qatar after suffering some sudden blows that affected Didier Deschamps’ initial plans, as important players such as N’Golo Kanté, Didier Pogba, and Karim Benzema missed the tournament due to injury.
No Benzema, no problem
Without the 2021-2022 Ballon d’Or winner, France lost a key forward, with Kylian Mbappé, Antoine Griezmann, and Olivier Giroud being the main attackers. And while many thought that Benzema’s absence would be a big deal, France haven’t missed Real Madrid’s star that much.
The proof is that France were able to score four goals in their Group D opener against Australia, with a very convincing Mbappé and Giroud performance.
After that they faced Denmark. Bookmakers made Denmark a clear favorite to progress to the round of 16 and some analysts even put the Danish side in the section’s first place but Kasper Hjulmand’s men were one of the biggest disappointments in Qatar, being eliminated in the group stage.
France defeated the Danish 2-1 with a late Mbappé goal that was decisive. By then Deschamps’ side was already among the best 16 nations in the world, so some key players were benched for the game against Tunisia, who managed to come away with the three points (0-1).
France, as Group C leaders, played against Poland in the round of 16, a match that finished with a ‘routine’ 3-1 win for Les Bleus, who were the clear favorites going into the match.
In the quarterfinals, England were waiting in what many expected to be one of the best games in the tournament. France grabbed the win (2-1) but England had quite a few chances to tie the contest, but all of them were missed, including Harry Kane’s second penalty shot.
Morocco, a tricky customer
With only four teams remaining, France went head-to-head with the standout nation of the World Cup, Morocco, who recorded their best performance ever in the tournament and became the first African nation to get to the final four in the competition.
France had never lost to Morocco before but that didn’t make the Moroccans an easy opponent. Walid Regragui’s men had only conceded an own goal hadn’t tasted defeat until then, emerging victorious against Iberian favorites Spain and Portugal.
Morocco showed in their game against France why they had gone so far in the tournament, but France’s experience and overall soundness tamed the Atlas Lions with a 2-0 victory, although not without a scare.