5 reasons France won the World Cup...
Parents and Friends,
Most soccer experts and pundits had France making the final four in Russia but not getting past favorites Brazil.
That meeting never materialized.
Didier Deschamps’ team defeated South American giants Argentina and Uruguay in the knockout stages.
Then stopped Belgium in the semi-final.
Les Bleus weren’t a spectacular side but when it came to the crunch games they did what they had to do.
They were well deserved champions and will be strong favorites to win the European Championship in two years’ time.
Here are five reasons why they won the World Cup!
Getting the big calls right
First choice full-backs Benjamin Mendy and Djibril Sidibe had both suffered serious injuries last season.
Deschamps started Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez ahead of his two more experienced defenders.
Pavard and Hernandez had only 11 international appearances between them but were two of the best full-backs in Russia.
They were equally effective going forward and it was Pavard’s superb goal versus Argentina that got France back in the game.
Hernandez was just as dynamic on the opposite flank assisting that strike and it was his brilliant run that set up Kylian Mbappe’s finish against Croatia.
Giroud plays the Guivarc'h role!
France’s 1998 World Cup winner and starting attacker Stephane Guivarc'h was known for two things.
Not scoring a single goal in that tournament and being named by an English newspaper as the worst forward in the history of the Premier League.
Current striker Olivier Giroud had his critics too and his statistics were damning.
Giroud didn't attempt a single shot on target in 546 minutes at the tournament but he did do other things extremely well.
He led the attack, was a menace in the air and his presence and link-up play were invaluable.
The Chelsea forward knew his role was as a target man.
A support player for Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann so they could play in and around him and he did this to perfection.
Switching it up
Deschamps showed his tactical nous utilizing three different systems and took action when required.
He used a 1–4–3–3 in the opening match against Australia.
Then changed to a 1–4–2–3–1 for the next four games dropping Ousmane Dembele and recalling Giroud.
In the final the France manager surprisingly switched to a 1–4–4–2 to match up with Croatia.
Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kante started in central midfield and with Blaise Matuidi and Mbappe out wide it paid rich dividends.
Ruthless finishing
The top four goal-scoring teams Belgium (16), Croatia (14), France (14) and England (12) all made the semi-finals.
But of the thirteen sides to attempt more than 50 shots, France’s 17.3% conversion rate was the highest.
That made the difference.
Their attacking threat was built around Griezmann’s creativity, Mbappe’s pace and defenders chipping in with vital goals.
Griezmann came alive when it mattered most as he did at Euro 2016 where he scored 5 goals in three knockout games.
The Atletico Madrid forward had 3 goals and 2 assists in the later rounds in Russia with 4 goals in total.
Those assists were in key games as he set up center-back Raphael Varane from a free-kick against Uruguay in the last eight.
Then delivered the corner for defender Samuel Umtiti’s header that knocked Belgium out in the semi-final.
Mbappe matched Griezmann scoring 4 goals and bagged a brace against Argentina where he destroyed Messi’s side on the break.
That counter-attacking threat was just as devastating against Croatia where the Paris Saint-Germain striker became the first teenager since Pele to score in a final.
Tiki-Taka so 2010
This tournament showed that Tiki-Taka no longer ruled with the top 3 possession teams Spain (69.2%), Germany (65.3%) and Argentina (61.1%) all exiting before the quarter-finals.
It’s all part of a wider trend in the world game this decade:
- 2010 World Cup: 3% of the games were won by teams with less than 45% possession.
- 2014 World Cup: 25% of the games were won by teams with less than 45% possession.
- 2015-16 English Premier League: Leicester City (5000/1 shots!) stunned the world and were crowned champions with just 44.8% possession.
- Euro 2016: 30% of the games were won by teams with less than 45% possession.
Teams are no longer relying on possession to win games as much as they were and that tendency continued in Russia.
France ranked 18th (49%) for ball possession, a lower average than Australia and Tunisia.
Deschamps’ side showed that by playing on the counter-attack, they could be just as dangerous without the ball as with it.
Chat soon,
Patrick
Soccer1-1.com
