Four years after the final lost at Lusail against Lionel Messi's Argentina, the French national team returns to a World Cup with, for the first time in a decade, an ambivalent status: neither an outsider nor the stated favorite. Bookmakers place them fourth among title contenders, behind reigning champions Argentina, Spain, and Brazil, just ahead of England and Germany. This ranking is both logical and deceptive: on paper, France's talent pool remains one of the deepest in the world; on the field, the cycle opened in the aftermath of Qatar has not yet delivered all its certainties.
A Renewed Squad, An Assumed Transition
The Mbappé-Griezmann-Pogba generation has passed. Karim Benzema, Hugo Lloris, and Raphaël Varane have definitively left the Blues. Antoine Griezmann announced his international retirement in the autumn of 2024. Paul Pogba, whose doping suspension ended in 2025, never regained his best club form. A few irreplaceable leaders remain — Kylian Mbappé (27 years old), captain and natural leader; Aurélien Tchouaméni (26 years old), midfield boss; Théo Hernandez (28 years old) on the left; William Saliba and Dayot Upamecano in central defense — and a whole block of talents playing their first major tournament at their peak.
Désiré Doué (21 years old), a revelation at PSG since 2024, has definitively established his right wing for the national team. Warren Zaïre-Emery (20 years old), back from injury, remains the most promising element in midfield. Bradley Barcola (24 years old) provides depth and penetration. Up front, the Mbappé-Marcus Thuram partnership has shown its complementarity in the qualifiers. In goal, Mike Maignan is now the undisputed starter, with Brice Samba as an experienced backup.
Key Figures for the Blues Before the World Cup
- 4th in the FIFA rankings approaching the tournament.
- 27 wins in 32 matches since the 2022 World Cup.
- 6 World Cup titles to their name (1 win in 1998, 1 win in 2018, 2 finals in 2006 and 2022, 1 semi-final in 2014, 1 quarter-final in 2010 — the most consistent modern record).
- Kylian Mbappé, captain, 14 World Cup goals, 4 behind Just Fontaine's record (1958) and 2 behind Miroslav Klose's all-time record.
- Group B with Uruguay, Senegal, Jordan — an accessible group, but with no 'easy' matches.
A New Coach, A New Approach
Didier Deschamps stepped down in the summer of 2025 after thirteen years in charge and two World Cup finals. His successor, Zinedine Zidane, takes over with a clear mandate: modernize the play, reduce the dependency on Mbappé in attack, and restore midfield control. The first qualifying matches confirmed an intention: higher possession, more advanced collective pressing, and full-backs pushing forward more often. The technical gamble is elegant; it remains to be proven that it can withstand the fatigue of an eight-match World Cup over 39 days.
Schedule for Group Stage Matches
- Sunday, June 14, 8:00 PM local time (3:00 AM in France) — AT&T Stadium, Dallas: France vs. Uruguay.
- Friday, June 19, 6:00 PM local time (12:00 AM in France) — Gillette Stadium, Boston: France vs. Senegal.
- Wednesday, June 24, 3:00 PM local time (9:00 PM in France) — Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta: France vs. Jordan.
A favorable schedule: only one match in the middle of the night for French viewers, a geographical increase in intensity from Dallas to the East Coast, and a final match in an air-conditioned stadium in Atlanta — a significant precaution in the heart of the Texas and Georgia summer.
Uruguay, The First Real Test
The opening match against Marcelo Bielsa's Uruguay will be scrutinized as a barometer of the identity Zidane wants to instill. La Celeste eliminated Argentina in the semi-finals of the 2024 Copa América and remains one of the most physically demanding teams in the world. Federico Valverde in midfield, Darwin Núñez up front, Ronald Araújo in defense: the Uruguayan block is experienced, seasoned, and has learned to neutralize talented attacks.
Senegal, five days later, will be no easier. African champions in 2022, semi-finalists of CAN 2025, Aliou Cissé's team relies on Iliman Ndiaye for creation, Sadio Mané as a mentor, and Pape Matar Sarr in midfield — a trio capable of unsettling any opponent on a given match. Jordan, in the final group game, will be the unknown factor: surprise finalists of the 2024 Asian Cup, Hussein Ammouta's team has shown that they know how to defend deep and strike on the counter.
Stated Ambitions: Not to Do 1998 in Reverse
The official objective of the French Football Federation (FFF), stated by its president Philippe Diallo, is 'at least the semi-finals.' The real objective, whispered internally, is the title. With Mbappé playing his third World Cup at 27, a midfield of Tchouaméni-Camavinga reaching full maturity, and a coach who needs to prove he can do with the Blues what he did at Real Madrid, the equation is clear: this World Cup is arguably the last where the window of opportunity will remain wide open for this generation.
The precedent haunting minds is that of 1998: world champions at home, eliminated in the quarter-finals in 2002 in the first round. The fear of a post-Qatar slump has never completely disappeared — and only a successful run, ideally to MetLife Stadium on July 19, will definitively dispel it.
To Remember
- Renewed squad around Mbappé (captain), Tchouaméni, Saliba, Doué, Zaïre-Emery.
- New coach: Zinédine Zidane, first major tournament at the helm of the Blues.
- Group B: Uruguay (June 14, Dallas), Senegal (June 19, Boston), Jordan (June 24, Atlanta).
- Official FFF objective: 'at least the semi-finals.'
- Broadcast: all Blue matches on free-to-air TF1, full coverage on beIN Sports.
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