French injuries may prove decisive at the final hour

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France qualified for the knockout stages with a game to spare after comfortable wins over Australia and Denmark.  However, their surprise defeat to Tunisia in their final group game raised questions over the strength of Didier Deschamps injury ridden squad.

Going into the tournament pundits expected the French’s fear-inducing frontline to be spearheaded by Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema, however a thigh injury ruled Real Madrid’s center forward out of the tournament.  Benzema’s exit would be a tournament-defining injury for most of the participating nations but the likes of Olivier Giroud – star of their 2018 world cup winning campaign – is a more than capable deputy. 

The area of concern for France is in the middle of the park.  The absence of Paul Pogba and Ngolo Kante – both considered to be the driving forces behind their 2018 success – has forced Deschamps into picking a midfield full of talented but inexperienced individuals.

Real Madrid stars Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga joined by Juventus’s Adrien Rabiot are all playing at the highest level but have little experience together as a unit.  Deschamps’ dilemma lies on the bench with Jordan Veretout, Youssouf Fofana and Matteo Guendouzi.  All three players ply their trade in Ligue 1 but have fewer than 15 international caps between them. 

Can Deschamps rely on the youth he has selected, or was the result against Tunisia an indicator that a French side ravaged by injuries do not have the depth necessary for a back-to-back world cup triumph

Photo: Twitter/@DeadlineDayLive

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Dylan Johnson