France are one of the favourites going into the World Cup 2018. There is a lot to love about Didier Deschamps' team. France have talent all over the pitch and the team may have the best striker in the world right now in Antoine Griezmann.
The French are coming off of a runner-up finish at the Euro 2016 tournament, but can they parlay their success in the UEFA tournament onto the world stage?
The French will play in Group C and will kick off their campaign against Australia on June 16. Deschamps' team will then play Peru on match day 2 and finish the group stage on June 26 against Denmark. France are expected to go through as Group C winners and most sportsbooks are more concerned with which team will come second. There is plenty of reason to be confident that France will win Group C.
Griezmann will be France's most important player. Forget Paul Pogba and his everchanging attitude, Griezmann makes the French run. Griezmann topped the goal scoring charts at Euro 2016 and he has the chance to do it again this summer. If France make the round of 16, the team will have at least four games for Griezmann to score goals. However, France should make it to the quarterfinals, giving him at least five matches to tally goals.
This will be Deschamps' second World Cup in charge of the national side. He took France to the quarterfinals in Brazil in 2014. This may be France's most talented squad of all-time and Deschamps has already shown he can take the team deep into tournaments. Deschamps not only coached France to the Euro 2016 final two years ago, but the manager was a part of the France's 1998 World Cup winning team.
Some football experts say France are favourites to win the 2022 edition of the tournament rather than this year's event. Those experts believe France's players need further seasoning before they are ready. However, the team looks just as likely this summer to win the tournament as ever. The team's youth is one of the things that makes it so exciting. Griezmann will be joined by players Kyliann Mbappe, Thomas Lemar and Nabil Fekir. The team is exciting and look far more dangerous than FIFA's No. 1 ranked Germany ahead of the tournament.
France looked impressive in their three World Cup warm-up matches. The team defeated Ireland and Italy before drawing with a United States team desperate to make up for missing the tournament. France will top Group C. The knockout stage draw will be the deciding factor in a World Cup final appearance or not.