It was a night when, as Didier Deschamps put it, the light went out by half-time. A remodelled France side had been comfortably beaten by Italy in their Nations League opener and a Parisian crowd made their feelings perfectly clear upon the conclusion. Three days later Les Bleus’ roadshow moved to Lyon for a meeting with Belgium, where the head coach’s name was booed before kick-off. Deschamps attributed that to provincial enmities but there was the clear sense of a once glorious tenure outlasting its welcome.
Almost two years on, Deschamps stands on the verge of genuine greatness. How can the assessment be any other way when, should the next six days go to plan, he would be only the second manager to win the World Cup twice? The power is firmly back on for France and will surge to new levels if they underline his renaissance against Spain.
Dallas will host a perfect litmus test for the kind of remodelling that separates football’s truly elite coaches from the rest. A Lamine Yamal-inspired Spain were the opponents in Munich when France were deservedly beaten in the Euro 2024 semi-finals. In contrast to their opponents France looked stodgy, bereft, inhibited. Ten years seemed a convenient round number to call time on the relationship with Deschamps. France’s new generation needed a licence to fly.
Deschamps has given it to them and it turns out he was not joking when, after the failure in Germany, he promised to inject new life into the national team. A coach associated with pragmatism has unfastened the shackles and channelled a new energy. Nobody has been able to match the speed, incision, variety and sheer quality of France’s attack this summer.
The “water carrier”, as he was dismissively called by Eric Cantona while playing, has wrought a team that breathes fire. It has been tempting, down the years, to dismiss Deschamps as a mere shop steward fortunate to oversee an endless conveyor belt of talent. Should France simply have been too good to fail? Even when cruising to the World Cup title in 2018 he was not immune to the charge they were playing within themselves. At the European Championship he stood on shakier ground when accused of lacking an offensive plan that went beyond relying on Kylian Mbappé’s brilliance. Deschamps has not always been given credit for exerting his own agency.
That will surely change if he signs off with football’s biggest prize in New Jersey. There are some around the France camp who believe Deschamps’ decision to stand down at the end of this tournament, announced in January 2025, has provided a liberation. It has certainly lessened some of the scrutiny given a new head coach, probably Zinedine Zidane, will soon be entrusted with setting out a long-term vision. Deschamps has had 18 months to prepare a final fling without batting off questions about his future. Going out with a whimper would serve nobody.
Spain know they will be facing a different beast this time. They were guinea pigs for Deschamps’ new setup when, in June 2025, the sides contested an astonishing Nations League semi-final in Stuttgart. By then Deschamps had made his most significant tweak, sacrificing a midfielder and effectively fielding four forwards in a 4-2-3-1. It had first been road tested on that moody evening against Italy, when Michael Olise finally made his senior debut. Then came the gold plating: Olise was joined by Désiré Doué, Ousmane Dembélé and, of course, Mbappé in the Spain game. France lost 5-4 but a tantalising template had been set.
The same quartet are likely to start when the teams meet once again on Tuesday. It is reasonable to point out that Deschamps has been assisted by the relatively low load placed on his Paris Saint-Germain representatives, heavily rotated during the Champions League winners’ undemanding Ligue 1 campaign. A zesty Bradley Barcola, surely a nailed-on starter for any other national team, offers that advantage alongside Doué and Dembélé. France look fresh, as snappy as they are silky, and capable of outrunning anyone.
It was never a given that Deschamps would successfully manage a transition that took Hugo Lloris, Raphaël Varane, Olivier Giroud and Antoine Griezmann out of the equation after stellar careers with France. Griezmann’s international retirement in September 2024 was felt particularly keenly given the pair’s closeness.
But Deschamps has tuned into the younger brood. There is acknowledgment around the squad that he has become more proximate and accessible. France are united and communication lines are clear. Nowadays it is never enough to sling 11 top players on to a pitch and hope. Deschamps has found a way to make every member of his setup tick.
That includes Mbappé, who embraced Deschamps after scoring France’s opening goal against Sweden in the round of 32. The manager was back after missing the game against Norway owing to the death of his mother. “I told you from day one, he’s on a mission,” Deschamps said of Mbappé, whose desperation to wash away the agonising memory of Qatar 2022 is clear. Their bond has been compared with the relationship Deschamps shared with Aimé Jacquet in 1998, when he captained France and lifted their home World Cup.
Perhaps the echo of history will reverberate in New Jersey on Sunday. Spain will offer France’s biggest all-round test by some way, an under-par Senegal and second-string Norway having failed to demand the levels of exertion expected in the group stage. The coming week may determine whether Deschamps, still only 57, is remembered as an all-time great. Winning titles with different vintages, in markedly differing ways, is the best measure available. From darkness, Deschamps and France can glimpse a dazzling reward at the end of their journey together.
