The end of an era in French football

France's chances of reaching the finals for the fourth time in the last five editions of a major tournament, combining both the World Cup and the Euros, were dashed after a semi-final defeat by Spain. The manner in which France's challenge ended this time in the tournament was disappointing. As before, France used to make a fuss, this time it could not.

Randall Kolo Moni's goal against Spain took the lead, but could not hold on to it. This was the only goal scored by France in the entire tournament from open play. That too in the game. Famous sports daily Lequip wrote in an editorial, "Even though France reached the semi-finals, it was a bittersweet exit."

Deschamps' team had one such player, unlike any other. During the competition, the defense line was able to perform strongly, but the front line could not play in the same way. Kylian Mbappé, who has been suffering from injury and fitness issues, has failed to live up to his reputation. Even Antoine Griezmann did not come close to his World Cup 2022 performance. In the end, he was 'dropped' from the team.

Mbappe later admitted, "My aim was to be the European champion, to play well in the Euros." But I couldn't play a game that matched it at all.'' Since Descamp became the coach, France was used to winning, but this time the victory was not so important for the same coach. This time, he was more interested in how his team played than getting results.

In a question asked before the semi-final, he said, 'someone is uncomfortable watching our game, while others will be watching something else. No one wants to watch our game.' It was emphasized in the question, France's performance was not attractive. Also, similar accusations were made against Deschamps before, but it was difficult to confirm. But this year's Euro has proven this accusation to be true. His performance since becoming a coach speaks for itself.

He took charge of the French team in 2012, when the team was underperforming under another coach, Laurent Blanc. Deschamps, the captain of the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 winning team, reached the quarter-finals of the 2014 World Cup in his first attempt. After that, France reached the final of Euro 2016 and the team won the World Cup in 2018. They reached the final of the 2022 World Cup but were defeated by Argentina.

France also won the 2021 UEFA Nations Cup. France's worst performance, meanwhile, came at the last Euros, when the team crashed out of the last 16, losing a tiebreaker against Switzerland. Deschamps signed a contract until 2026 during the last World Cup. In this case, the World Cup in the same year is another big competition for France.

But now the question has arisen, is the 55-year-old Deschamps the coach under whose leadership France will have to play in the next World Cup? An example of German coach Joachim Low can be submitted for this. He became a coach in 2006. In the first five tournaments played under his leadership, Germany won the 2014 World Cup There was a

. Then reached the final of Euro 2008. They were defeated in the other three semi-finals. Since then, Germany's performance has been consistently poor.

Germany crashed out of the group stage at the 2018 World Cup and only made it to the last 16 at Euro 2020. Then the loco journey came to a complete halt. When Desample was asked about his future, his answer was, "We should ask the president of our football association about this." We have just lost in the semi-finals and it is not right to answer this question now.'