“Against Australia?
Ah they will win, that's for sure!
François Hollande has no hesitation.
How many ?
3-0, 2-1?
“I can see a 2-0,” predicts the former President of the Republic.
And for the rest of the competition?
“They have to qualify for the round of 16 by coming out on top of their group… Not easy, because Denmark is a complicated team to play, which has surprises in store.
And then, the team suffered hardships, Benzema's withdrawal, and before him other top players who were unable to leave for Qatar", he comments as a seasoned amateur, he who wore the number 22 on his attacking jersey in a selection of elected officials (which also included Éric Wœrth and Xavier Bertrand) for a match against the Variétés club de France in… 2008.
But Hollande, who intends to watch all the matches of the Blues, “hopes” that they will go to the final.
From there to his wishes being granted and his successor Emmanuel Macron going to Qatar (the Head of State has promised to make the trip from the semi-final if France is qualified), we have to reckon with the glorious uncertainty of sport… In addition to the sporting plan, the former socialist president confides a regret: “It would have been good if Europeans had the same attitude for wearing the LGBT armband.
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François Hollande did not have the chance to see the French team win
When he was at the Élysée (2012-2017), François Hollande did not have the chance to see the French team win the World Cup.
Nor therefore to receive the victorious players with their trophy in the gardens of the presidential palace.
Jacques Chirac, squarely "12th player" of the team which won the first French cup with Zidane in 1998, had then seen his popularity boosted, at the same time exhilarating a president in full cohabitation.
As for Emmanuel Macron, we remember the image of the Head of State jumping for joy in the stands of the Moscow stadium during the final against Croatia in 2018, where the eleven tricolor was going to pocket his second World Cup… but the Parisian homecoming party was a little spoiled by the quick passage of the team bus on the Champs-Élysées, so as not to be late for the reception at the Palais.