Didier Deschamps revealed as much ahead of the World Cup: France would be leaving their back-three experiment behind.
He was a little snappy in the pre-tournament press conference, reluctant to elaborate on why it had failed or why it had lasted so long. Indeed, ditching the idea was not a straightforward decision. Something resembling 3-4-1-2 had been France’s predominant formation throughout 2022, which created the enticing possibility of Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema paired up front, but it had brought mixed results: a couple of friendly wins over Ivory Coast and South Africa before a woeful Nations League campaign in which they won only one of their six group games against Croatia, Austria and Denmark.
