Football Daily | Spain leave France at sixes and sevens as L’Équipe dish out the twos

6 hours ago 3

THE IMMACULATE SELECCIÓN

For a second there, it felt as if this was going to be a rerun for France of the Human Rights World Cup final. Conceding a penalty at the end of the first quarter and looking lost for most of the game, Les Bleus would eventually click. Kylian Mbappé would lock into PlayStation mode, thundering down the left-hand side before cutting in to erase the two-goal deficit. It would be another game for the ages, going beyond normal time – but Luis de la Fuente’s lads weren’t keen on any drama. In reality, Spain put on a suffocating display of control, even if there was little between the two sides in terms of possession. France, the great entertainers of this Geopolitics World Cup, are off home … though not before a jaunt to Miami for the bronze medal game.

Football Daily feels for Didier Deschamps, who has had to contend with a personal loss away from the game. This was a man who wanted to play his shots on the way out, a teacher wheeling out the TV and snacks on the last day of term for his class. Deschamps did what England supporters used to plead from Gareth Southgate, opting to Take The Handbrake Off. And with it came an exhibition. Michael Olise’s immaculate through ball for Mbappé against Senegal, Ousmane Dembélé cutting in from the right against Norway, their entire display against Sweden. And yet the French end with their worst World Cup finish since 2014. L’Équipe, having turned the telly off and thrown the sweets in the bin, finished marking the homework: twos for Olise, Dembélé and Lucas Digne for their semi-final showing; a three for Mbappé. Brutal.

“I don’t think we played the match we wanted to play, whether tactically, technically, or in terms of our overall performance level,” sighed Mbappé. “When you don’t do what you’re supposed to do in a World Cup semi-final, you don’t win. Our goal was to press them high up the pitch to prevent them from settling into that slow, controlled rhythm, because when it comes to controlling the game they are better than us. We failed to do that … When you put it all together, the result is a defeat. It’s a huge disappointment.”

Instead it’s Spain who will visit the New York New Jersey Stadium, which will host a closing ceremony for the GWC. Fifa has announced performances by Laura Pausini, Nicole Scherzinger, Robbie Williams, and, um, IShowSpeed, the 21-year-old YouTuber/influencer/streamer/miscellaneous. Fifa will no doubt welcome that sweet, sweet Gen-Z engagement. Tom Cruise will get a run-out too, presumably sky-diving on to the pitch riding a motorbike with Gianni Infantino on his back. This ceremony is separate from the half-time show – “a landmark celebration at the intersection of sport, music and global impact,” according to Fifa – which is very likely to force an extended break in play. Somewhere in the middle of all this will be a game of football, no doubt conducted by Rodri and friends, hypnotising everyone in view.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

“It’s a football match; I can’t mix things up, out of respect for what happened so many years ago. It was a very sad time in our history, and there isn’t much we can do about it. Mixing the two would be madness. We criticise that there was war. It is a game of football, we need to keep things separate. Yes, we remember Argentinian people and people that were lost in the war, but let’s not conflate things. What do the players of today have to do with many, many years ago?” – Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni calls for calm and perspective before the semi-final against England. Meanwhile back home, vice-president Victoria Villarruel has been keeping things nice and cal … oh. “Tomorrow we play against the usurping pirates,” she roared. “This isn’t just another match. I’m not going to be politically correct or cold-hearted; against the English, it’s always something more. It’s the Malvinas, it’s Diego, it’s Leo’s last one, and it’s putting the brakes on the invaders. Go Argentina! Because until our last breath, we’re going to claim what’s ours!”

Argentina fans gather at Underground Atlanta

Are we now going to see an endless supply of letters suggesting 2030 names (yesterday’s Football Daily letters)? While I love Carbon Footprint World Cup, I’d like to suggest the WTFWC. It’s already started with talk of a 64-team tournament. But it will take much more to top the GWC. It started with the suspension of Cristiano Ronaldo’s ban, the award of the Fifa Peace Prize and display of the trophy in the Oval Office, followed by bans of fans, a referee and Iranian support staff. Not to mention travel restrictions, the Balogun incident, spider wires, overturned goals, Paraguay v France and so many more shenanigans. Only a WTF World Cup will be able to top it” – Steve Mintz.

I don’t understand why Gianni Infantino doesn’t take his World Cup expansion idea to its logical conclusion, simply abandoning the whole qualification process and just having a tournament for any country that wants to turn up. Saves the two years or so of international matches which cause such disruption to domestic leagues around the world. Might even be a net gain on the emissions front too. Think about it Gianni!” – Adrian Riley.

Mr Infantino’s definitely missing a trick. Why not go the whole hog, and have two World Cups; one, let’s call it the World Cup, for y’know, the top teams. And another, let’s call it The Rest of the World Cup, for y’know, everyone else. There may well be the possibility of a third string to this, perhaps called the World Vase, played by teams knocked out of The Rest of the World Cup, but give an opportunity to redeem themselves. This model is virtually endless” – Brian Saffer.

If you have any, please send letters to [email protected]. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day goes to … Brian Saffer. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.