For the Blues, the last departure from a sad year 2024 that blurred their image.

Rarely, in Didier Deschamps’ twelve and a half years in office, has so little been said about football as in 2024. After several months in which extra-sports sport fueled the headlines when the field failed to distract anyone, The players of the French men’s soccer team have the opportunity to finish the year better than they started it, on Sunday, November 17, against Italy (9:10 p.m.). A success in Milan would not erase the last eleven months, but it would allow Les Bleus to face their next meeting, in March 2025, in a more peaceful way.

Qualified for the quarterfinals of the Nations League, France can still finish first in its group, as long as it wins by at least two goals against Nazionale, who beat it in Paris in September (1-3). And for once, this sporting issue occupied space on Saturday in a press conference, apart from an Italian journalist, who mentioned the absence of Kylian Mbappé.

Because the year 2024 for the Blues has been dotted with extra-sports elements. The dissolution of the National Assembly, announced on June 9 by Emmanuel Macron, a few minutes before the France-Canada match in Bordeaux (0-0), had thus led some French players (Kylian Mbappé and Marcus Thuram at the helm) to take the initiative. position on the legislative elections, when the euro began.

Then the Blues captain became the center of attention. His broken nose during the Euro Cup, his carefree and distant attitude during the September rally, his absence in October, his trip to Stockholm and, finally, his not being called up for the two games against Israel and Italy… “Mbappé crystallizes many things, since we talk a lot about him, even when he is not there”observed Didier Deschamps in October.

Reoxygenation is not bearing fruit at the moment

The coach’s permanence in his position at the end of the Euro Cup, without any real debate, and then the context of the high-tension match against Israel (0-0) on Thursday, in turn overshadowed the field. And only the knockout phase of the Euro Cup allowed the French performances to take priority: they painted the portrait of a team capable of reaching the semifinals of a major international competition, but difficult to watch and insecure for its offensive forces.

With only seven wins (in fifteen games) this year, no game will be remembered. “It wasn’t easy, there were complications”Deschamps admitted on Thursday. Against Israel (anything but a continental leader), France conceded a fourth 0-0 draw in 2024, something it had not done in twenty years.

Beyond the results, the general impression left by the French leaves much to be desired. And Didier Deschamps undoubtedly lived the most delicate year of his long mandate. Only in 2013 was he able to compete, but the Basque then saw the confusing controversies compensated by the joy of qualifying for the World Cup, against Ukraine (in November 2013).

In September, the French coach announced that he wanted to take advantage of the Nations League, a secondary competition, to “reoxygenate” the French team with a view to qualifying for the 2026 World Cup With the incorporation of several international debutants, Deschamps anticipated that this process. “harms collective expression”.

A lost credit, two years after the World Cup

An analysis that is necessary, since the last games seem difficult. The youngsters Bradley Barcola (PSG) and Michael Olise (Bayern Munich) are not yet consolidated at this level, the French team lacks a top-level scorer and regrets a flagrant lack of creativity in the midfield. To the point that the coach seemed to back down in November, remembering the “former” Kingsley Coman and Benjamin Pavard, who provide more guarantees in the national team.

Other changes currently in the Blues have also maintained the vagueness around this team. The unexpected international withdrawal of Antoine Griezmann – which the latter has not yet explained – and the lack of clarification regarding the non-call of captain Mbappé during the last two meetings, have widened the gap between the national team and the general public, which The evil performance of the Tricolores has not compensated at all.

Because the Blues are no longer attractive. In October, less than four million French people followed the match against Israel (4-1) on television. However, the epic Qatar 2022 World Cup had created a stir around the national team, which was maintained thanks to a successful 2023 year, despite the departure of some executives (Hugo Lloris, Steve Mandanda, Raphaël Varane).

The following year was painful, but the French team was at least able to finish it on a good note. But the ‘bleus’ are far from having success in the pocket on Sunday at San Siro, because Italy no longer has anything to do with the team having missed the European Championship by a wide margin. Winning on the other side of the Alps would allow the French to look towards 2025 with a bit of serenity.