The World Cup in Russia was dominated by the European teams, with France, Croatia, Belgium and England reaching the semi-finals.
That World Cup continued a trend that began after Brazil won in 2002, when the next two finals did not include South American representatives.
It was only in 2014 that Argentina reached the final and lost to Germany in extra time, and everyone remembers the extraordinary performance of the Germans against the host Brazil in the semi-finals, a record game that illustrated European supremacy in recent years.
France, the world champion in 2018, was supposed to arrive in Qatar as the top candidate to win.
The team is quite similar to the one that won the title in Russia plus additions of new talents that never stop growing and a huge addition - Karim Benzema, the player of the year in the world.
He returns to the national team after being kicked out in 2015 following the extortion case of Matthew Valbaona.
He came to the tournament after a record season, in which he provided exceptional numbers (44 goals and 15 assists in 46 games) and swept Real Madrid to win the championship and the Champions League.
Benzema.
A hard blow to Deschamps, photo: AFP
But as we are used to, life is what happens when you make plans.
The title defense campaign started with a bad performance in the Euros and elimination in the round of 16, a bad tournament in the Nations League (one win in six games), and then the injuries also came.
It started with Angolo Kante and Paul Pogba, two of the anchors on the way to the cup in Russia (along with the retired Blaise Matwidi), continued with Christopher Ankonko, one of the biggest stars in the Bundesliga, and reached its peak with Benzema's injury, just before the opening whistle of the tournament.
So Didier Deschamps will have to recalculate the route.
He drew the initial conclusions after the League of Nations, when he decided to give up the formation of three defenders and return to play with a line of four in defense.
The goal was to play a diamond, with Antoine Griezmann playing behind Benzema and Kylian Mbappe, and behind them a trio of players who know how to burn areas and can cover the width of the field and minimize the defensive work of the two strikers.
Now that Benzema is gone and Ankonko is not available, the initial choice will again be Olivier Giroud, but for him the style has to change and it is not certain that the French are ready for it.
Giro.
Will take Benzema's place, photo: Reuters
Deschamps' diamond against
the weak Australia Deschamps will probably win in any case, but the fight against the Danes (a very important game, because the winner will avoid a meeting with Argentina in the eighth), who beat them twice in the Nations League, will be tough, and to beat them he will have to think of a different tactic and maybe Also about a player who will surprise everyone.
On the assumption that Deschamps will continue in the formation of a diamond and give up the ball, a player who can surprise is actually Marcus Toram.
Son of a world champion (Lilian), who has not yet proven himself in the national team, but maybe now is his time.
He is a classic passer, powerful and fast, barefoot on Mbappe when he rests in defense and can make life very difficult for the Danish defenders.
Mbappe and Touram in France training, photo: Reuters
Despite the injuries and problems, France has a formidable squad and super players in almost every position, and its goal in Qatar has not changed - it wants to retain the title and continue the supremacy of the European teams.
The question is whether they will be able to reinvent themselves just before the start of their tournament.
We will get a first hint of this this evening at 21:00 against the Socceroos in one of the most beautiful stadiums in Qatar - Al Janum, and I will be there to convey the experience to you.
Will they lift a trophy again?, Photo: AP
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