From drab Euro 2024 to goals galore, France’s transformation under Didier Deschamps | OneFootball

France have flipped from Euro 2024 sterility to a ruthless, varied attack at this World Cup, with Didier Deschamps embracing emerging talent. They struck 10 goals in the group stage, their best World Cup start since 1958, when they hit 11.

According to L'Équipe, praise is pouring in at home and abroad after March wins over Brazil, 2-1, and Colombia, 3-1, that Deschamps had treated carefully. Now the numbers match the noise.

At Euro 2024 a defensive identity hardened into caricature, and a semi-final run did not disguise the torpor. France’s first open-play goal came in the 1-2 defeat by Spain through Randal Kolo Muani, after earlier progress via a Kylian Mbappé penalty and two own goals.

Deschamps heard talk of a creativity deficit after every game and tried 4-3-3 then a 4-4-2 diamond without fixing it. Mbappé played on with a broken nose from match one, Antoine Griezmann dipped then was omitted, Marcus Thuram struggled to combine and Adrien Rabiot was used at times on the left. They advanced on their defence, the same as in the United States.

Two years on the back line reassures less and the frontline has been recast. On the East Coast, Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé have four goals each, with Bradley Barcola and Désiré Doué also scoring.

Absent from that list, Michael Olise has reshaped France’s play since 2024, when he chose the Olympics over the Euro. Brought in that September as a number 10, he underpinned a 4-2-3-1 validated in March 2025 against Croatia, 2-0, 5-4 on penalties, as Deschamps adapted rather than preached.

The pecking order has shifted, with Thuram overtaken by competition largely formed at Paris-SG, where Dembélé, Doué and Barcola share strong links. Assistant Guy Stéphan highlighted the uplift after the 4-1 win over Norway and the return of pleasure absent in Germany, while staff still feel they maximised that group. A “reoxygenation” begun in late 2024, early boos, and the announcement of Deschamps’ post‑World Cup exit have refreshed the mood, and he can now say France are an attacking team without anyone blinking.

Source: L'Équipe