BENGALURU: So this is what it must have been like to watch Brazil of 1970 or the Brazil of 1982? The attacking patterns, the dazzling interchange and the football as an expression of artistic joy; using the canvas of the green grass at the Boston Stadium to bring to life a certain 'Va-Va-Voom'. Elite sport reimagined as something fun and cool.
Les Bleus were all of that and much more in their calm dismantling of Morocco, their 2-0 win sending them through to the last four of the World Cup. It's only the fourth instance that a team has qualified for the semifinal of three consecutive World Cups (Germany twice and Brazil). It's no surprise that the two-time champions have advanced to the last four. They were prohibitive favourites to do it before the tournament began thanks to the loaded nature of their team.
What, though, has really changed between the France of 2018 or even the France of 2022 to the current class is the way coach Didier Deschamps has yanked the handbrake off. This side's earlier World Cup avatars played functional football for a large part; they were borderline boring on the ball as they traded verticality for control in the central areas. They were always guarded against matches becoming a game of basketball.
It's why this game against Morocco offered such a neat contrast to the game they played against the same opponents in the semifinals four years ago. The scorelines were identical, sure, but there was a sea of difference between both games. That night at the Al Bayt Stadium in Qatar, Les Bleus were happy to give the ball to the Atlas Lions. Morocco had more than 60% possession, more passes, as many shots and conjured up enough xG to at least score one goal.
In Boston on Thursday evening? Morocco, without the risk of hyperbole, were spectators in their own game. France racked an xG of 3.69 (it was 2.1 in 2022), fired 22 shots (it was 14), 28 touches in the opposition box (23) and registered over 430 passes (293). It was a dominating performance from start to finish, but the scariest bit about their performance may have been something else. It was that they allowed an xG of only 0.14 to their opponents across 90 minutes as they were reduced to only five shots and eight touches inside the French box.
You can argue that this was the logical next step in the development of this French team, but football's seldom this linear. That's before you throw in Deschamps' dogma. Known as the 'water carrier' (the humdrum nickname given to defensive midfielders of a certain ilk) in his playing days, Deschamps' first French squads were famous for playing risk-free football. It's how they won the World Cup in Russia. They already had the attacking talents of a then-teenaged Kylian Mbappe to go with the velvety touches of Antoine Griezmann and the power of Paul Pogba but the football itself was slow and methodical. You could go an entire half without looking at the TV.
On football grounds across the US's east coast, France are increasingly the great entertainers. Against the African side hoping to make it back-to-back semifinals, France racked up 13 shots on goal in the first half alone (Morocco had one). It's because they have options all over that final third. Both their de facto wide attacking players (Desire Doue and a either of Ousmane Dembele or Michael Olise) can cut inside or beat their man on the outside, so a defender will always have to guess. In central areas, Mbappe can drag defenders out of their comfort zone with his direct running. Take a look at the Dembele goal against Morocco. He comes in from an inside left position to a space vacated by Mbappe, who has already dragged defenders away. And the reigning Ballon d'Or man found the back of the net from outside the net, a stroked finish along the grass. It followed a stunning opener from Mbappe, whose curled finish from outside the box left Yassine Bounou clutching air for his 20th goal in World Cups (Zinedine Zidane, for example, had 31 in the entirety of his French career).
“My credit goes to the players but maybe I do my job well,” Deschamps said after the game. “This is a human venture we are sharing. The only truth is the one on the pitch but the human aspect is extremely important.”
In the six matches they have played, they have always won the midfield battle, and it's quietly helped their forwards. What happens if they come up against a technically secure side whose midfielders are known to hog the ball? That question may be asked of them next.
