Still wounded from their 2022 final defeat, France returned to the World Cup determined to go one step further. Under Didier Deschamps, they were ready to write the next chapter.
France are in 2026 as the 2022 runner-up and the nation with the deepest single-country talent pool at every position. Didier Deschamps, in charge since 2012, has chosen 2026 as his farewell tournament he announced the decision publicly in early 2025. Kylian Mbappé, now 27, will almost certainly captain a side that is still coming to terms with his Real Madrid move from PSG and the generational shift alongside Aurélien Tchouaméni, Eduardo Camavinga, and Warren Zaïre-Emery.
France looked unstoppable in the group stage, winning every match and signalling their intentions early. They put on a commanding display against Sweden in the Round of 32, found a way past Paraguay in the Round of 16, got the better of Morocco in the Quarter-finals, and fell to Spain in the Semi-finals. Defeat in the the semis and the third-place match left France in fourth, but the journey to the last four had already exceeded expectations.
6won2lost
20scored10conceded
6 consecutive wins kept 4 clean sheets.
Kylian Mbappé, 27, arrives at 2026 as the world's best player and the tournament's marquee attraction. He scored a hat-trick in the 2022 final, won the Golden Boot, and moved to Real Madrid in 2024. A World Cup title his second would close an argument he has been making since he was 19.
Conceded in only 4 of 8 matches
Kylian Mbappe led France's attack with 10 goals 4 in the group stage, 2 in the round of 32, 1 in the round of 16, 1 in the quarter-finals and 2 in the third-place match at the 2026 World Cup.
Deschamps became the third man to win the World Cup as both captain (1998) and coach (2018). His 12-year France tenure is the longest ever for a French national team manager. 2026 will be his last tournament before a handover, widely expected to go to Zinedine Zidane. In charge for 4 consecutive World Cups 19 World Cup matches managed in total.
Deschamps' farewell side did what his sides always did won the matches it had to, narrowly, through the best attacker on the pitch. It worked until it met a team that would not give it the ball, and then fell apart completely in a 6-4 third-place match.
