France closed out 2024 with an unexpected comeback in the UEFA Nations League that was completed with a 3-1 victory in Italy on Sunday. Adrien Rabiot scored a headed goal in each half and Lucas Digne stood out with a role in each of the three French goals as Didier Deschamps’ men edged the Azzurri on goal difference in Milan.
Andrea Cambiaso’s effort looked to have maintained first place in League A Group 2 for Luciano Spalletti’s side, but Les Bleus almost got over the line despite Thursday’s goalless draw against Israel. It closes the year on an unlikely positive note, although it doesn’t completely erase the many concerns about the French team at the moment.
What the result does do, however, is hint at a more positive qualification campaign for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will finally begin from next spring. Such solid performances from players like Rabiot and Digne give Deschamps and his French team the kind of positivity that has been in short supply of late.
Most of the rumors surrounding Les Bleus center around the absence of captain Kylian Mbappé, but this type of result illustrates that there is the necessary talent available at the moment. It will take time to develop a chemistry similar to that which led France to success in Russia in 2018, but there are signs it could start to develop in qualifying.
It is true that the League of Nations is not the best barometer of international supremacy, given that many major nations are far from being at full strength. However, bouncing back from an opening 3-1 defeat at home to Italy and finishing the campaign mirroring that result to top the group is something to work with.
Rabiot is returning to full fitness and playing acumen after joining Olympique Marseille in his homeland, while Digne’s consistency with Aston Villa now extends to this French side. Deschamps seems to have settled on a preferred central defensive pairing: William Saliba alongside Ibrahima Konate and Jules Kounde more or less at right back.
Digne put pressure on Theo Hernandez with this attacking performance, while Rabiot, combined with Manu Kone and Matteo Guendouzi behind Christopher Nkunku, also showed promise. Sure, the attacking duo of Randal Kolo Muani and Marcus Thuram remains a complicated proposition and underlined the continued need for a restored Mbappe.
However, when you can rely on guys like Mike Maignan to make big game-winning saves as late as he did, there are clearly some pretty substantial building blocks. Mbappé’s reintegration will go a long way to defining whether or not Les Bleus can loosen the shackles that took them to the semi-finals of Euro 2024.
Deschamps remains absolutely the master of his own destiny with this recovery to his name as 2024 approaches and it would be a surprise to see him step aside despite growing frustration with his tactics. It is still unthinkable that he will be forced to resign as long as the competing performances remain convincing on paper and he has earned the right to say when his time in office is up.
Not everything is rosy in France, as this year has shown, but the one thing that cannot be argued is that this team has the talent and that is without players like Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Aurelien Tchouameni and Lucas Hernández. The collective mentality and attitude of the players that were evident after the final whistle at San Siro suggest that Les Bleus could still show a new face in 2025.
