Before Euro 2024 began, if anyone had been told that one of the round of 16 matches would’ve been France vs Belgium, most people would have expected a hotly-contested match with France coming out on top, likely dispatching Belgium with an impressive performance.
However, although France did beat Belgium, their victory would’ve convinced absolutely no one that Les Bleus have what it takes to claim a record-tying third continental championship. Even though France won 1-0 to advance to the quarterfinals, that one goal was an own goal scored by Belgium’s veteran centre-back Jan Vertonghen.
Through four tournament matches thus far, France not only have a paltry total of three goals to their name; they have not scored a goal from open play via one of their own players. Both open-play goals in France’s column up to this point have been own goals; the other occurred during the group stage via Austrian defender Maximilian Wöber. France’s only other goal so far was a penalty scored by Kylian Mbappé against Poland.
France somehow failed to top Group D - something which they should easily have accomplished. The level of play that they’ve shown thus far is not even close to what got them to the World Cup final less than two years ago. Unless they find a way to get back to the level which they’re clearly capable of playing, France’s ceiling in this tournament is the semifinals at best - where they’ll almost certainly be picked off by the winner of the Spain/Germany quarterfinal.
The way things are going right now, France will soon be going out with a whimper to end one of the most successful eras in the national team’s history. Players such as Dayot Upamecano, Marcus Thuram, Antoine Griezmann, and Olivier Giroud have been well below their usual standards - at least as far as international play is concerned. While their current level might be enough to get them through their quarterfinal match against a Portugal team who have been equally unimpressive thus far, that’s almost certainly not going to be enough against either of the two teams most likely to win it all as of right now.
This is a team full of players who are clearly out of sync with each other. Misfires in front of goal, sub-optimal decision-making, misplays under no pressure, and most notably of all, tactical errors - all have typified what has been what would’ve been a campaign to forget had it not, somehow, been for France’s actual results.
Going back to the point of tactical errors, something that has been common across many teams in this tournament and the reason why so many have underperformed is the general strategic ineptitude that has, for one reason or another, plagued a large number of coaches and threatened to halt what would be potential title contenders in their tracks. France are no exception; Didier Deschamps has gotten it wrong on multiple occasions.
The decision not to bench Griezmann for the match against Belgium was questionable indeed. Though the Atlético Madrid winger is one of France’s all-time legends, he’s clearly well past his prime - and it has been obvious. Griezmann has been arguably France’s worst player in this tournament and turned in another lacklustre showing against Belgium. While it would be an unpopular decision on the surface, if Deschamps again refuses to drop Griezmann for the quarterfinal against Portugal, it could very well be a call that comes back to haunt him.
Upamecano has been thoroughly unimpressive from day one of the tournament and served up another dud against Belgium; he too ought to be dropped. It’s even worth questioning if France should be playing a 4-3-3 at all, as they have in their past two matches. Even their rare bright spots like Mbappé and N’Golo Kanté have been played out of position because Deschamps has inexplicably switched to a 4-3-3.
All of this being said, it’s not out of the question that the quarterfinal against Portugal ends up being France’s turning point. However, based on everything that has been shown until now, that would seem rather unlikely. Not only that - the answer to the question of whether Deschamps will even remain in the national team’s dugout by the time the 2026 World Cup rolls around might be hanging in the balance right now and perhaps hinge on whether he actually can and does turn it around.
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