We have spent an awful lot of time at this World Cup talking about one man within a team: Cristiano Ronaldo has grabbed far more headlines than Portugal, Gareth Bale was (as ever) the main focus of any Wales chat and Lionel Messi’s quest to win a World Cup has been a central story line over Argentina’s desire to win a first since 1986.
So too the excitement over France’s chances of defending their global title, and becoming the first team for half a century to do so, centres around one man: Kylian Mbappe.
It is easy to see why. “The best striker I have ever played with,” Olivier Giroud calls him, a man who has been a team-mate to the likes of Karim Benzema and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The 23-year-old phenom has scored 33 goals in 63 games for France and a staggering 221 in 309 at club level.
England though, despite the coaching staff receiving a presentation tracking the last two years of France’s progress, insist they are not obsessed with just one player.
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Anything less than winning the World Cup is not good enough, insists Harry Maguire07 December, 2022“There is more to beating France than containing Kylian Mbappe,” said Kyle Walker, England’s fastest defender and a man Gareth Southgate will hope has the legs to keep up with him.
“The game is not England vs Mbappe. The game is England vs France. We respect that he’s a good player and in good form but I’m not going to roll out the red carpet for him and tell him to go and score.
“I’m representing my country at a quarter-final of a World Cup. It’s do or die. If we lose we go home. He’s not going to stand in my way and hopefully winning a World Cup for my country.”
France squad in full
Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Spurs), Steve Mandanda (Rennes), Alphonse Areola (West Ham)
Defenders: Lucas Hernandez (Bayern Munich), Theo Hernandez (AC Milan), Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool), Jules Kounde (Barcelona), Benjamin Pavard (Bayern Munich), William Saliba (Arsenal), Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich), Raphael Varane (Manchester United), Axel Disasi (Monaco)
Midfielders: Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid), Youssouf Fofana (Monaco), Matteo Guendouzi (Marseille), Adrien Rabiot (Juventus), Aurelien Tchouameni (Real Madrid), Jordan Veretout (Marseille)
Forwards: Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich), Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona), Olivier Giroud (AC Milan), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Kylian Mbappe (PSG), Randal Kolo Muani (Eintracht Frankfurt), Marcus Thuram (Borussia Monchengladbach)
Who is missing?
It is a measure of the strength of Didier Deschamps’ squad that when Karim Benzema, the 2022 Ballon d’Or winner, was forced to pull out of the World Cup with a thigh injury, he simply declined to call up a replacement.
When you consider that even without Benzema, he could quite conceivably start a front four of Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Giroud and Antoine Griezmann, it’s a little easier to see why.
There is a satisfying blend of youth and experience in that star-studded attacking line too: Griezmann and Giroud both have more than 100 caps, while Mbappe and Dembele are still in their mid-20s.
Scratch below the surface though, and it transpires that there is a young, talented but internationally green underbelly to the squad. There is no Paul Pogba, who has an ongoing knee problem, or more crucially, N’Golo Kante, the Chelsea midfielder who has not played since August due to a hamstring problem that needed surgery.
Youth or inexperience?
Instead, Deschamps started the tournament with just one midfielder – Adrien Rabiot (33 caps) – with more than 20 caps to his name. Aurelien Tchouameni has been a regular for Real Madrid this season, featuring in all but two La Liga games, but arrived in Qatar with only 14 appearances for France. Matteo Guendouzi has added his seventh during the tournament, but remains distinctly unexposed at international level.
Playing for your country of course, great honour that it is, may not be everything when it comes to proving yourself. Tschouameni’s five Champions League games, many would argue, were of higher pressure and intensity than the friendly against Ivory Coast in which he scored his first goal for France back in March.
But it remains the case that whoever Deschamps names in midfield, Jordan Henderson will probably have more caps than all of them combined.
In defence, despite having a man by some once regarded as the best goalkeeper in the world, France are yet to keep a clean sheet at this World Cup.
That is reflected in Deschamps selections, picking three very different back fours in each of the group fixtures before deciding that the group who helped them beat Denmark 2-1 was the answer, namely Kounde, Varane, Upamecano and Theo Hernandez.
Again, there is a blend of experience, but more leaning towards youth: Varane is comfortably the senior figure with 90 caps, but the other three have just 35 games for France between them.
This World Cup has been a story of breakthroughs and youthful triumph while older generations move on, and arguably, England’s clash with France is an intriguing microcosm of that narrative. The only uncertainty remains the result.
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