France – England: Deschamps Bows Out In Blockbuster Defeat (4-6)

It looked to be a humiliating night for Didier Deschamps in his final game in charge of France. England were 4-0 up at half-time, and while Les Bleus couldn’t take it all the way, they at least managed to send off their greatest ever manager with a bang, in a dizzy and ludicrous exhibition. 

Tactical analysis and match report by Nick Hartland.

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Fourteen years after becoming the France manager, Didier Deschamps took charge of his final game. It was hoped that his exit would be on the biggest stage, leading Les Bleus to a third consecutive World Cup final, but instead, he would fall with the bright lights in sight. The only living person to have won the World Cup as a player and a manager would have to settle for the indignity of his send-off being the third-place playoff. 

“Everyone seems to know the score, they’ve seen it all before. They just know, they’re so sure. That England’s gonna throw it away, gonna blow it away.” As it was sung, so it once again happened. England were leading Argentina and had one hand on a first World Cup final since 1966, but they sat too deep, allowed too much pressure, and became the latest victim of the late-game comeback specialists. 

For Deschamps’ final match, he lined his side up in a familiar 4-2-3-1 shape, with seven changes from the team that lost to Spain. Mike Maignan kept his spot between the posts, with a fresh backline of Théo Hernandez, Maxence Lacroix, Ibrahima Konaté, and Malo Gusto. In midfield, Warren Zaïre-Emery alongside Adrien Rabiot. On the wings, Désiré Doué and Michael Olise, with Rayan Cherki in the middle. Kylian Mbappé started up top. 

Thomas Tuchel matched his counterpart’s shape and similarly went with seven changes. Dean Henderson was given the nod over Jordan Pickford, while Djed Spence, Marc Guéhi, Ezri Konsa, and Jarell Quansah made up the defense. A double pivot of Declan Rice and Eberechi Eze in midfield. Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka were on the flanks with Morgan Rogers as the number ten. In the attack, Harry Kane was rested with Ivan Toney given a start. 

Where’s your head at? 

With nothing truly at stake, the third-place playoff perhaps holds the title as the World Cup’s most unloved fixture, a feature of the calendar that remains, one would imagine largely for tradition’s sake and to squeeze a little more cash out of the behemoth before it slumbers for another four years. 

As such, the conditions of this match have swung wildly in the past, from high-scoring gung-ho football to forgettable exhibitions between heartbroken teams going through the motions. For this match, we had a bit of both in the first half: England looked ready to put on a show, while France looked to have their minds elsewhere. 

Within three minutes, England opened the scoring. Rice easily read a well-telegraphed attempt to switch the ball wide by Doué. The England midfielder intercepted and carried possession from the halfway line to the edge of the French box without meeting any opposition or being closed down. From there, Rice fired from distance, his shot nestled into the back of the net. 

3rd minute: Lead-up to England opener. Rice intercepts the pass. France’s defensive structure collapses. No French player looks to put pressure on the ball and delay the transition. 

It was a moment that captured France’s mindset; this had been a team that had counterpressed quickly and worked hard in tandem to prevent and delay transitions by closing down the space as soon as the ball was lost, but here, there was a total lack of focus and responsibility. This carried through to their out-of-possession shape, particularly when they tried to press high up the pitch. 

In the 11th minute, France went man-to-man from a goal kick. This is what they had usually done during the tournament in these scenarios. However, on this occasion, it looked completely uncoordinated. There seemed to be a general confusion on where each defender was meant to position themselves and who they were meant to be marking. 

It should have resulted in England scoring their second of the evening, but Saka was unable to time his run and triggered the offside flag to temporarily save France’s blushes. 

11th minute: England build-up. France’s press is sloppy and poorly executed. Players appear to be in the wrong positions, and England find it easy to attract pressure left and then switch to the right, targeting Mbappé’s poor off-ball presence. 

England humiliate sloppy France

The first fifteen minutes should have been a wake-up call for Les Bleus, but they would continue to blunder onwards. England were set up in a 4-1-4-1 block, which could quickly spring into action as soon as the ball was won. And every transition was proving to be a threat to France. 

When possession was won, Toney would act as a target man. He wanted to drop deep to collect the ball and act as the link-up man by laying it off to the more creative Rogers or Eze. As Toney dropped, Saka and Rashford would move forward and look to run in behind the defense and provide a progressive target for Rogers or Eze. 

The result was that it would distort France’s defense. The center would advance to close down Toney while at the same time the fullbacks were forced backwards by the England wingers. Space was created and exploited in just a few seconds, and France were left vulnerable with their fullbacks exposed. 

In the 17th minute, this movement led to England doubling the score. When Saka slipped behind the defensive line and attacked the box. His shot was deflected out for a corner. However, the resulting set piece would see England increase their lead, as Konsa headed home. 

The night would only get worse for France, as England scored their third and fourth before the half-time break. The third came once again from a transition as England tore apart the French defence, switching the ball from left to right and back to the left as Saka and Rashford combined, with Saka getting his first of the evening in the 37th minute. 

England’s fourth was their most different, with it coming from settled play. France were set up in a 4-4-2 medium block, Cherki and Mbappé were tasked with blocking central access from the front, but provided little coverage. England were able to slip through the center. Toney dropped deep, attracting Konaté to step out of the backline, and creating a pocket for Saka to cut inside from wide and fire into the back of the net. 

45th+1 minute: Lead up to England’s 4th goal. France’s 4-4-2 medium block doesn’t protect the center. Eze can be found and England’s movement creates enough of a pocket for Saka to attack to devastating effect. 

Deschamps goes out swinging

In his final game in charge, Deschamps had been embarrassed by his charges. His legacy was assured by winning the 2018 World Cup, but this match was threatening to leave things on a sour note. At half-time, he made four changes: Lucas Digne, Dayot Upamecano, Bradley Barcola, and Ousmane Dembélé came on for Hernandez, Konaté, Doué, and Cherki. 

The message was clear: if they were going to lose, they were at least going to lose looking like a Deschamps team. Tuchel responded in turn by taking off Rashford and replacing him with Ollie Watkins. 

France looked like a different beast coming into the second half. There was far more engagement and defensive diligence. Upamecano, in particular, was able to cover for the poor positioning of Gusto on France’s right. He would read when he needed to go wide and close down the winger. 

In the 48th minute, it was from Upamecano’s defensive reading that France were able to get one goal back. The centre-back shifted wide to protect the wing with Gusto out of position. He dispossessed Watkins and then carried the ball forward. He picked out Olise, who then fed Mbappé for France’s first of the evening. 

Les Bleus looked better in possession and just six minutes later would halve the scoreline. Mbappé rotated wide, shifting out onto the left. His movement attracted Konsa to step out of the defensive line, where he could better position himself to jump. Mbappé spotted the space and released Barcola to cut in and attack behind the defensive line and fire home. 

54th minute:

54th minute: France’s second goal. Mbappé rotates wide, vacating the center. Konsa steps up creating a small gap. Mbappé feeds the ball into the gap for Barcola to attack. 

Glorious comeback denied

Like against Argentina, England looked to retreat deeper and deeper as the game wore on. France could smell the blood in the water, and in the 66th minute, Mbappé narrowed the score to 4-3, following a beautiful passage of play between himself and Olise. 

France kept pushing for the equalizer. Olise had a couple of chances to find the back of the net, but as was the case throughout the tournament, he struggled to convert his moments. It looked far more likely that of the two teams, France were going to be the next to score, but it wasn’t to be. 

Gusto’s positioning had been a liability throughout the match, and he was likely saved from an early substitution by the fact that Deschamps had already used four of his five at half-time. In the 85th minute, with France in the ascendancy, he fouled Spence in the box. Saka stepped up to the spot and dispatched the effort. 

Gusto would shortly after be subbed with Koundé coming on, but the damage had been done. There would still be more drama left in what had been a ludicrous match as Dembélé would return France to within a goal of England, but Jude Bellingham, minutes later, would make sure that there would be no comeback. As he secured England’s bronze medal with a shot placed through the legs of Upamecano to give The Three Lions a 6-4 win. 

Takeaways

The Deschamps era has come to a close. As a player, he was part of the Italian wave that infiltrated the French national team and turned them from a team that would lose beautifully into a pragmatic force that wanted to win at all costs. It was a philosophy he kept as a manager, but in his final match, something of France’s history crept through. For France’s greatest manager, the gallant defeat represented a very French exit. 

The final whistle likely came as a great reprieve to Tuchel. Even if the third-place playoff means very little, throwing away two victories in quick succession would have been terrible optics for the manager. What happens next remains unclear. You’d expect Tuchel to remain in his role, but it’s hard not to ignore the feeling that he failed at the very the reason he was brought in; to have the nous to get past the matches that Gareth Southgate fell at. 

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