ARLINGTON, Texas — And just like that, it’s finished. The journey for France in the tournament has come to an end. Expected to be frontrunners, they managed to hold that position until Tuesday afternoon at Jerry Jones’ vast stadium, where they fell behind for the first time in this FIFA World Cup and were unable to bounce back, ultimately suffering a 2-0 defeat to Spain.
It marks the end of Didier Deschamps’ tenure after 14 years, 184 matches, three major tournament finals (two World Cups and one European Championship), and the UEFA Nations League.
It’s a perplexing fate. He was just a Randal Kolo Muani miss away from becoming the second coach in history to win two World Cups, adding to the one he claimed as a player. Now, after a lackluster outing where his players — especially Les Bleus’ heralded front four — could only muster a meager 0.04 xG in the opening 64 minutes, most French fans are relieved he’s stepping down and are eager for the start of the Zinedine Zidane era.
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France was undeniably the most talented team throughout the World Cup. Although Spain posed a strong challenge, that wasn’t the crux of the issue; it was the manner of defeat — lacking ambition and being outperformed in every aspect.
In a span of three years, Luis de la Fuente has outmatched Deschamps on three occasions — at the 2024 Euro semifinal, the 2025 Nations League (where Spain led 5-1 before the final score was 5-4), and now this decisive match. Perhaps De la Fuente possesses a unique advantage over Deschamps, or perhaps the French manager struggles with adaptability, as his team has consistently performed worse against Spain each time.
The signs indicated a likely outcome from the beginning. Spain intended to control possession and create scoring opportunities. The key question was whether France would adjust their tactics, either by pressing or bolstering their midfield (especially given that, as Kylian Mbappé mentioned, they faced a two-on-three disadvantage in midfield), or simply stick to their game plan and hope Spain would react to them instead.
Deschamps opted for the latter strategy and faced dire consequences. While it’s easy to critique in hindsight, it shouldn’t be surprising. When equipped with superior talent, the goal is to compel the opposition to adapt, not the other way around — a fundamental principle in any team sport.
Much of Deschamps’ managerial achievements — which are indeed impressive — stem from adhering to standard strategies: maintaining player contentment, ensuring morale is high, simplifying tactics, and allowing natural talent to shine. This approach served him well as a player during the 1998 World Cup alongside Zidane, Patrick Vieira, and Thierry Henry, and it yielded results as a coach in 2018 and 2022.
His philosophy stems from the belief that, in a low-scoring game, overthinking tactics can be counterproductive. Such beliefs are not uncommon.
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McManaman: Spain made us look like fools for backing France
The real challenge arises when your opponent denies the two essential resources every talented player needs to excel: possession of the ball (since they have it, not you) and space (as they press you and restrict your movement options). Without these, Michael Olise becomes only marginally more impactful than Michael Scott.
This is when adjustment is crucial, and that has not been a strength for Deschamps. Even his substitutions — bringing on the ball-playing Manu Koné for Adrien Rabiot and Désiré Doué for Bradley Barcola — came off as predictable. His decisions were reminiscent of standard predictive text suggestions on a phone.
In favorable circumstances, this predictability can provide reassurance and maintain team structure. On a bad day, as was the case on Tuesday, it merely extended the suffering.
It’s a double-edged sword. Deschamps’ loyalty to specific players, particularly Rabiot and struggling Olise, has proven problematic.
The very attributes that brought him immense success as a national coach also led to his downfall, particularly when he had the most gifted squad at his disposal.
Will things change under Zidane?
That remains uncertain. His three UEFA Champions League trophies and two La Ligas are impressive, but it’s worth noting that Zidane hasn’t been active in coaching for the last five years, with his last title coming in 2020. He has only worked at Real Madrid, a unique environment unlike any other in football. While he demonstrated his ability to motivate top-level players, that’s a different dynamic at international level, where the coach has limited access to players and lacks the ability to replace them as needed.
Given Zidane’s history of favoring simplicity in tactics at the Bernabéu and his time as a teammate of Deschamps, it’s easy to assume he will adopt a similar approach. This could be beneficial, notwithstanding Tuesday’s downfall. However, it would be prudent for Zidane to learn from Deschamps’ experiences, recognizing that simply deploying star players doesn’t guarantee victory; motivation alone isn’t enough.
Sometimes, balance is essential, and one must acknowledge that opponents are working tirelessly to thwart you, which means that at times, restraint can be necessary. Zidane, who won a World Cup with Stéphane Guivarc’h as his center forward, should be aware of this. (It’s worth noting that Deschamps was part of that team, too.)
The key lesson for Zidane, assuming he was watching, is that teamwork and collective effort can overshadow individual talent, particularly when the gap in skills is minimal.
Having had ample opportunity to analyze this French side, Zidane is likely well-versed in their dynamics and will benefit from a wealth of attacking talent at his disposal. If he can at least match Deschamps’ achievements, he will be hailed as a success.