France reaches the final with Mbappe’s brilliance and squad overcoming

France reach the final of the World Cup in Qatar proving that experience makes the difference in the decisive moments.

Even when they weren’t technically superior to their opponents, as in the quarterfinals against England and in the semifinal against Morocco, the current champions had enough discipline and concentration to achieve victories.

The France of 2022 are a “strange team”, wrote the newspaper L’Equipe, describing the country’s classification for the final against Argentina as an “un exploit venu des tréfonds” (a feat from the depths). The grand finale will take place this Sunday (18th), at 12:00 pm (Brasília time), in Lusail.

It is not Brazil 1970, because “there is a lack of lighting, magic and a lot of light”, nor is it France 2018, due to the “lack of control at certain levels”, but France 2022 is a team with an “intimate ambition cultivated in adversity ” and in a short time.

Not even coach Didier Deschamps disagrees with that. “France wasn’t perfect,” he acknowledged, repeating it as if it were a refrain after triumphs against the British and Moroccans.

They were the most difficult matches for the team in Qatar. They were also in which Kylian Mbappé had less space, which helps to understand the French difficulty to impose itself.

In his first three matches at the World Cup, the number 10 was used 39 times in the opposing area, an average of 13 per match, according to FIFA data. Against England and Morocco, he found himself in that situation just 12 times, between the two clashes.

Despite the numbers, however, it is not so simple to say that he was less decisive, although he went blank in those matches – he is still the top scorer in the Cup, with five goals, alongside Messi.

At 23 and already in his second consecutive Cup final, he has shown a different kind of influence in the last two clashes. If he didn’t have space, it was because the marking was often doubled. A situation that, on the other hand, opened gaps for his teammates.

This is how the Moroccan wall began to be destroyed. While he was surrounded by seven opponents and still found a way to finish for the goal, the rest of the defense ended up free for Theo Hernández.

Isolated as in an oasis in the middle of the desert, the full-back only had the trouble of finishing for the goal, after just five minutes. This dismantled the strategy of closing in and looking for counterattacks and forced the Moroccan team to leave for the game.

It was all Mbappé wanted, so he could use the main Moroccan weapon to exploit the power of his attacks from the wings.

Not even his friend and teammate Hakimi escaped being asked to dance, dribbled and left behind on the field. If he had difficulty finishing, at least the French number 10 exhausted the defenders’ forces. They were already exhausted when Muani closed the account.

Despite all the physical problems before and during the tournament, France still had strength. It was perhaps their greatest test of strength in this edition, overcoming the long list of casualties that make up a team that the fans have memorized.

Pogba, Kanté, Benzema, Kimpembe and Nkunku didn’t even play in Qatar. Lucas Hernandez was already injured during the Cup. Upamecano and Rabiot did not make it into the semi-finals, weighed down by what Deschamps called “a disease that is happening in Doha”.

Even with the casualties of pieces that were important in 2018 and others slaughtered already during the 2022 edition, France showed that it still has many reservations from that victorious experience.

Much more than just the five remaining from that conquest that started the duel with the Moroccans (Hugo Lloris, Raphael Varane, Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud and Mbappé). There is also the same coldness.

Even in the thrashing of Croatia, by 4 to 2, when they got the mug, the French team made some mistakes that could have cost them the victory. As it also happened against England and Morocco in this edition. In both cases, nothing shook the French machine to seek victories.

The challenge now is to know how much difference this could make against Argentina. How much can a mistake against Lionel Messi cost?

Many teams are well aware of this, but France does not want to know. At least not in practice. And hopes to count on all his experience to overcome adversity once again.

“There are always things that happen in a match that you are not prepared for,” said captain Hugo Lloris. “That’s where you need to show good team spirit,” he added.

“We are good as a team because we know how to adapt to different scenarios.”