Everything was perfectly in place. On the program, back to the future. History to be scared and to spice up the session. The framework first. The Parc des Princes, for the first time in ages, the Stade de France being embarrassed by works around. And then the stake: a qualification for the World Cup. The last time these two parameters were combined was in the fall of 1993, one of the most sinister moments in the history of national football.
→ DEBATE. Football: should we boycott the 2022 World Cup in Qatar?
The Blues received, Saturday, November 13, Kazakhstan to validate their ticket to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and therefore hovered in the stands of the 28-year-old ghosts. Those at the end of the 1994 World Cup qualifying campaign, the collective memory reducing the failure of the then Blues to this improbable defeat (1-2) against Bulgaria on November 17 on a goal scored by Emil Kostadinov, six seconds of the end of regulation time. Except that the fall of the House of France had also been played out a month earlier, already in the Park, against Israel. Tiny football nation (71e in the Fifa ranking), but which, badaboum, won in the pouring rain (3-2), showering the Blues annoyed.
A historic Mbappé
This cursed fall, Didier Deschamps, at the time both times in the field, did not hesitate to summon her to motivate his troops before Kazakhstan: “You don’t have to think you’re qualified before you are. It happened, personally, I paid for it, it must not be repeated ”. It was said. Kazakhstan, 125e world nation and 13 consecutive games without success, facing recent world champions winners of the League of Nations, the warning was not worth crippling trauma.
Author of four goals against the Kazakhs, Kylian Mbappé is the first French player to achieve such a performance in the national team since 1958. / FRANCK FIFE / AFP
A certain Kylian Mbappé, in fact, hastened to nip the anxieties in the bud. A hat-trick in just over half an hour, and there was no need to worry anymore. Just enjoy an ideal evening, with goals strung like in the parade against a defense of Kazakhstan of a marked weakness: 8 in total, Mbappé finally signing a quadruplet never seen in the selection since Just Fontaine in 1958, Karim Benzema a double to look good, Adrien Rabiot his first achievement in blue, and Antoine Griezmann a penalty to participate in the party.
The Blues are therefore qualified before their last match against Finland, Tuesday, November 16 in Helsinki, and this is a first. In a group without real rivals, they have for once avoided stumbling stupidly to invite themselves to their 7e World Cup in a row. So here they are, ready to step into the unknown, this long tunnel eleven months before the arrival of the major competition. Pushed back almost on time on the Advent calendar, the 2022 Mondial (November 21-December 18) promises a very long wait when the debates usually come to life with the end of spring. What to think about and put the work back on the job? No doubt, because the sites opened by Didier Deschamps in recent months are not yet at the finishing stage.
????️ “A huge pride”
The reaction of Didier Deschamps after the qualification of the Blues for the World Cup in Qatar #FiersdetreBleuspic.twitter.com/LMaIJYqveh
– France team ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) November 13, 2021
A system still to be refined
To be confirmed in particular, the playing system favored by Didier Deschamps, this defense with three defenders who took time to win since his first try against Albania in November 2019 (2-0). It has only been installed since the start of the 2021 school year, with the efficiency we know in the League of Nations, but the role played in particular by the additional “pistons” on the wings, with a Kingsley Coman twirling against Kazakhstan, is to be further reinforced in the face of more solid opposition.
We know that this choice corresponds to the desire to put the three stars of the attack in the best possible conditions. The offensive festival on Saturday evening should not make people forget that the Griezmann-Benzema-Mbappé trio can still be improved and that the three are not yet in tune. Finally, to be refined, the integration of promising young shoots of the Blues. Didier Deschamps has not hesitated in recent months to launch new recruits, rather with great success. The astonishing maturity at 21 of Monaco midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni, the spectacular ardor of AC Milan defender Théo Hernandez (24), the slaughter of the Sevilla side Jules Koundé (23), or the availability of Bayer Leverkusen winger Moussa Diaby (22) are all promises to be confirmed.
→ READ. In Qatar, the hidden face of the 2022 World Cup
Adjustment opportunities will not be legion in 2022, and the final preparation non-existent, the players being released only one week before the start of the World Cup. It is not the least of the difficulties which awaits these Blues of gala.
————
A still unclear program
After their meeting without a stake against Finland on Tuesday, November 16, the Blues will separate for more than three months. The reunion is scheduled for March 2022, with, in the boxes, a tournament project in Qatar in the company of three other teams including that of the emirate, which could be finalized in January. The other matches already scheduled are those of the League of Nations, the draw of which is scheduled for December 16. Four are announced in June, two at the end of September. The Blues will not be reunited until November 14, a short week before the start of the World Cup.
.
