When the draw for this season's UEFA Nations League was released, much of the attention turned to the World Cup final rematch between France and Croatia which would take place during the second of two matchdays with which the tournament would commence.
In an interesting coincidence, the match ended with the same scoreline as did their prior encounter in Russia in 2018: France emerged with a 4-2 victory. Antoine Griezmann, Dayot Upamecano, and Olivier Giroud found the back of the net for Les Bleus. France were also assisted by an own goal scored by Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livaković.
This match had been expected to be a hard-fought one between two of world football's powerhouses. However, after Dejan Lovren scored the opening goal of the match for Croatia, France moved into another gear and never looked back from there.
With under a year remaining before the European Championships begin and under two before the World Cup kicks off, it was evident that the reigning world champions are still the team to beat on the international stage. For the vast majority of the match, France dominated a team ranked within the top 10 of FIFA's world rankings and pegged as a possible dark-horse contender at next year's European Championships.
Clearly, France have hardly let up ever since their World Cup victory in 2018. Apart from a surprising slip-up in which they were upset by the Netherlands in the 2019 Nations League, it has generally been smooth sailing for France. What makes this even more impressive is that they might arguably be even better now than they were during their run to the World Cup title two years ago.
Among the players who took to the field in the navy blue jersey at the Stade de France included Wissam Ben Yedder, Anthony Martial, Ferland Mendy, Upamecano, and Clément Lenglet. None of these players were part of France's victorious World Cup squad. Even more remarkable is the fact that every one of these players would represent an upgrade at their respective position if they were to be plugged into the World Cup team.
France's strength in depth was also on display against Croatia. This was a team missing the services of two of its best players in Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappé following the duo's positive Covid-19 tests. As it turned out, France did not miss a beat. Ben Yedder and Steven N'Zonzi seamlessly fit in with the rest of the team as they made the starting lineup in a rare occurrence that only happened due to the unfortunate circumstances. Considering that France easily dispatched a team like Croatia despite not being at full strength, it shows that when they have their full squad at their disposal, they are going to be very difficult to stop.
Furthermore, after a difficult and turbulent season at Barcelona, it appears that Griezmann once again seems to be close to his peak form. Griezmann produced an outstanding performance against Croatia as he reminded everyone why he was the player of the tournament at Euro 2016, the recipient of the Bronze Ball at the 2018 World Cup, and a perennial Ballon d'Or contender at his best. Griezmann scored France's first goal, set up another scored by Upamecano, and was a constant thorn in the flesh of the Croatian defense who had no answer for a player who, if he can bring this form with him back to Catalonia, might be able to successfully take over the mantle of the leader of Barça's attack in the post-Lionel Messi era which could begin at any time.
Of course, it's not as though France will be unchallenged during the tournaments to come. Teams such as Belgium and England, as well as Brazil during the World Cup, will provide stern tests. The likes of Germany, Portugal, and the Netherlands have all either rebuilt or retooled; if they reach their full potential in time for Euro 2021 or the 2022 World Cup, they too could serve as threats to France's supremacy.
That being said, the way France are playing right now, it will take something truly remarkable to deny them a third European Championship title and first since 2000 when the tournament begins next year. Could they even become the first team in 60 years to win back-to-back World Cups? It will be difficult, but if any team could, it surely has to be them.
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