No footballing nation dominates the modern World Cup landscape quite like France. Having reached the final in four of the last seven tournaments, Les Bleus arrive at the 2026 World Cup not merely looking to compete but expecting to conquer.
This summer marks the end of an era. Didier Deschamps, the ultimate results-driven pragmatist who has guided the national team since 2012, is stepping down after the tournament, with Zinedine Zidane reportedly waiting in the wings. Deschamps will leave them in great shape: a squad bulging with world-class talent and a terrifying array of young alpha males. However, history has shown that France's greatest threat rarely wears the shirt of the opposition but rather the volatility within their own dressing room.
If you need a reminder of that capacity to self-destruct, Netflix's documentary about their ill-fated 2010 World Cup, called Watch The Bus: A French Football Mutiny, is a pre-tournament must-see. To unpack the inner workings of the 2026 favourites, we sat down with French football expert Julien Laurens in the latest episode of our Make Football Great Again podcast. From the tactical unchaining of their front four to the evolution of Kylian Mbappe's legacy, Laurens provides an unfiltered look at why this French side is built to shatter records — if they can keep their egos in check.
Unleashing the Wolves
Deschamps has spent over a decade building tournament success on a platform of rigid, defensive 4-3-3 systems. But for his final dance, the France boss is finally ready to take off the handbrake to shoehorn an almost unfair collection of attacking elite — including Mbappe, Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola, and Rayan Cherki — into the same side.
"For all those years where he played a conservative way, now he's ready to let go a little bit and play a 4-2-3-1 to put all that attacking talent together," Laurens reveals. "Dembele, Olise and Mbappe are locked in anyway — they're the best in the world in their positions. And it's quite scary if you're facing them, to be honest."
The fluid attack did suffer one major pre-tournament casualty, with Liverpool forward Hugo Ekitike ruled out through injury. "Ekitike is a big blow because he was perfect on the left-hand side to interchange positions and combine well with Kylian," Laurens says.
With Ekitike sidelined, the battle for the remaining spots among the likes of Barcola, Cherki, and Maghnes Akliouche highlights France's ridiculous depth. However, it is PSG's Desire Doue who looks primed to complete the puzzle on the flank. "There will be quite a lot of variation between Dembele, Olise, Mbappe and Doue on the left-hand side. There is so much freedom for that front four. They have clicked already and they outstandingly showed what they can do together against Brazil in March."
Managing the Alpha Males
With Dembele arriving as the reigning Ballon d'Or holder and a back-to-back Champions League winner, alongside a squad filled with elite superstars, the threat of an internal ego war is palpable — particularly given the internal chaos that Mbappe has been central to in the eyes of some fans at Real Madrid this season.
"There are two worries for Deschamps," Laurens explains. "One is taking things for granted, which he warned against in his first press conference. The second is how this squad of super-talented alpha males will live in that bubble for eight weeks. But Mbappe has realised his role as a captain far more than ever before. Nobody will come and try to contest that he is the main guy — everybody is far too smart for it. Olise wants nothing of the spotlight anyway, and Dembele is Kylian's best friend. Mbappe is a super smart guy and he will make sure everybody feels involved and committed."
Kante: France's Security Blanket
He might be 35 and currently playing his club football for Fenerbahce, but writing off N'Golo Kante remains a foolish exercise. While Aurelien Tchouameni and Adrien Rabiot are expected to be the starting midfield duo, Kante remains Deschamps' ultimate insurance policy.
"He played against Colombia in March and was phenomenal," Laurens insists. "His experience is incredibly valuable — there are not many left from that 2018 World Cup-winning squad. I am always a bit suspicious of Deschamps and his sudden expansive football. I wouldn't be surprised if at some point he moves back to a 4-3-3 with Kante, Tchouameni and Rabiot because Deschamps will always think defensively first."
Win or Bust
For the French public and the federation, the bar has been set so high that anything less than hoisting the trophy on American soil will be met with severe disappointment — particularly after coming so close to victory at Qatar 2022.
"Officially, the line is that a semi-final is the minimum. But really, the objective is very much to win it," Laurens concludes. "We know how good they are. I was very critical after Euro 2024 because the football was dire and the players weren't happy, but it's hard to argue with Deschamps' results. Our biggest enemy is not Lamine Yamal and Spain, or Leo Messi and Argentina — it is very much ourselves. If our mindset is right, we go all the way. We've reached the final four times in the last seven World Cups. If a couple of penalty shootouts in 2006 and 2022 went differently, we'd easily have four trophies in that span. I can't see why that dominant trend won't continue this summer."
