France’s World Cup odds.

The current world champion is one of the main favourites (perhaps the main one, along with Brazil) to win the cup again because of its team, which is full of stars from Europe’s top teams, as well as for maintaining continuity in their process, as manager Didier Deschamps will be leading his third World Cup as France’s national team coach.

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Manager

Didier Deschamps has been coaching France since 2012, winning the 2016 FIFA World Cup and 2021 UEFA Nations League and reaching the 2016 UEFA Euro final, so he has the leadership and weight within the team and the federation to take important decisions that within the French squad are very necessary since the main enemy that Les Bleus has are the internal problems between the players themselves and their surroundings.

Main Players

Here we open a range of names that no other national team can offer, with possibly the best young player in the world today (with Erling Haaland’s permission), Kylian Mbappé, which is worth mentioning, they form one of the most fearsome attacking pairs in the world, not only because of their individual level but also because of the cohesion and good functioning they have when they play together.

The alternatives in the attack are of a very similar level such as Ousmane Dembele, Antoine Griezmann, or Kingsley Coman, so quality on the offensive side of things is guaranteed. In defense, there are some of the best defenders in the world today, such as William Saliba or Theo Hernandez, accompanied by some of the best in recent years, although with different states of form as of this writing, such as Raphael Varane, Jules Koundé, Dayot Upamecano, Lucas Hernandez or Ibrahima Konaté.

In short, a team full of stars.

Absences

The latest absence and probably the most important is the one of Karim Benzema, the Ballon d’Or winner. Mike Maignan was also left out of the World Cup due to an injury, so Hugo Lloris is expected to remain as the starting goalkeeper, something that may turn out to be a coin in the air knowing that the Tottenham player is capable of doing incredibly saves as making dumb mistakes. However, the other two main absences from France are Paul Pogba and N’golo Kanté also due to injury, as both were regulars for the starting eleven in the last World Cup. These losses can significantly affect the midfield of the French team that has opted for some young players like Fofana, Tchouaméni, Camavinga, or Guendouzi.

Prediction

France is the main favorite in group D and the logical thing is that they go through in first place, so they would face the second in group C which, except for Argentina, would be a relatively affordable rival for France.

From the possible crossovers, it seems that Les Bleus would reach advanced stages such as the semifinals or the final, as long as the team remains focused and put internal problems aside, something that has been the main problem for France in the last couple of decades.

Despite the aforementioned casualties, on the football side of things, Deschamp’s team is one of the best in the tournament.