Route to Russia:
Qualifying for the World Cup was not as simple as it should have been for France. They only secured qualification in the final round of games. They also lost to Sweden during qualification which was not well received by the French.
How far can they get:
France have the strongest squad in the world right now. The squad of players not going to the World Cup would easily finish ahead of most teams. Unbelievably, they aren’t going into this tournament as favourites though. A strong performance will still be expected though and the semi-finals will be a minimum expectation.
Manager:
Didier Deschamps. In 1998 he captained France to the World Cup and now he has a chance to lead them to another. There is only one problem, he’s not actually very good at coaching the national team. He has had a stellar career as a club manager but consistently fails to get the very best out of the best international squad there is.
One to watch:
Antoine Griezmann. The Atlético Madrid man is a consistent goal scorer. In 2016 he won La Liga Best Player ahead of Ronaldo and Messi. He continued in the same vein that Summer, winning Top Goalscorer and being voted Best Player during the UEFA Euro 2016 competition, where France finished as runners-up. France will be hoping he is in the same mood this Sumer.
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