World Cup 2026: Nobody in France is afraid of a game against Germany

Always before important games, Didier Deschamps maintains a remarkable ritual. He takes an electric razor, goes over to his assistant coach Guy Stéphan’s room – and shaves his bald head. French national coach Deschamps, 57, and his assistant, who is twelve years his senior, have been doing this for many years. And no one would now doubt that their third game in Group I this Friday (9 p.m. CEST/ZDF and MagentaTV) in Boston is of such importance for France’s national team that it would have justified a thorough shave of the assistant’s bald head.

Third group games are not exactly the French’s strength at the World Cup. Lost in Qatar in 2022 The Blues their third game was 0-1 against Tunisia, in Russia in 2018 they struggled to a 0-0 draw against Denmark, and in Brazil in 2014 they achieved the same result against Ecuador. In 2010, during their scandal-filled appearance in South Africa, they lost 2-1 to the hosts. France’s last success in a third World Cup game was 20 years ago: in Germany in 2006, they beat Togo 2-0 in Cologne.

Now it’s against Norway on Friday. But this time Guy Stéphan not only has to see how he can clean up his striking bald head, he also has responsibility for the entire game. Deschamps’ mother died a few days ago and he flew back to France for the funeral.

The rather taciturn Breton Stéphan and the mischievous Basque Deschamps have been a team since 2009. At that time, their newly formed partnership first had to prove itself at Olympique Marseille, in one of the most difficult environments in French football. “Marseille is a volcano that constantly erupts,” Stéphan, who was Senegal’s national coach from 2003 to 2005, told the newspaper before the World Cup The World. “When things are going well in Marseille, things are going very well. But when things are going badly, things are going very badly. And you only know that a duo works when it manages to overcome the difficult moments.” In three years they won six titles in the Mediterranean metropolis. Then “DD” took his assistant with him French team.

Guy Stéphan is known as someone who never tells his younger boss what he wants. And Didier Deschamps is considered someone who values ​​this openness. This is not the case in all coaching teams. However, no lengthy debates were necessary to define the clear mission with which the absent Deschamps and the interim boss Stéphan sent their team into the game against Norway: to be first in the group! So to do better this time in the third game than in all the previous World Cup missions they led.

It should also be noted that neither in 2018 nor in 2022 did the setback in game three hurt the French. They then advanced to the final; In 2018 they won the title in Moscow and in 2022 they lost to Argentina on penalties in Lusail. And it was also clear to the Deschamps/Stéphan duo who was to blame for the poor final group games: themselves. In 2022, they changed their starting eleven in nine positions in order to give the last player in the replacement hierarchy a little playing time; It was similar in 2018.

All French games took place and are taking place within a 500 kilometer radius

This time it would be a surprise if Stéphan rested one of his three attacking regulars, Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé or Michael Olise. And the French team is still in the discovery phase anyway. Maxence Lacroix could provide a break for William Saliba, who is suffering from back pain, as a central defender; on the left side of the defense it is unclear whether Theo Hernández or Lucas Digne will prevail; and Aurélien Tchouaméni is expected to return to headquarters. But it’s more about managing load than keeping the entire group happy.

Anyone who doesn’t seem to play a role in these considerations so far is the potential opponent Blues in the round of 16: Germany. While many in the German camp are certainly hoping for a surprise coup by the Norwegians on Friday – because otherwise the Germans and French would meet in the next round, assuming victories in the round of 16 – this prospect has so far not caused the French any unrest. They don’t think until the game after next on July 4th; Rather, they wanted to avoid the Ivory Coast team, who were perceived as unpleasant, in the round of 16. But above all, it’s about “wasting as little energy as possible on everything outside of the field.” This is how Deschamps put it in March during a test match tour of the USA.

The French have been able to save energy like no other team at this World Cup. They set up their base camp in the pleasant summer freshness of Boston. All of their games took place and are taking place within 500 kilometers of the East Coast: in New York and Philadelphia, and now in Foxborough, south of Boston, a maximum one-hour bus ride from their training grounds at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts. As group winners, they (like the Germans) could continue playing in New York, Philadelphia and Boston before a possible semi-final in Dallas. The route to second in the group: Dallas, New York, Miami, Atlanta. The French currently fear this route more than a round of 16 against Deniz Undav and Kai Havertz.

And on the Norwegian side there is also this certain Erling Haaland, who will keep the French concentration high through his mere presence. With four goals he is currently level with Mbappé. “It’s always a fight with Haaland,” he said The Team The one who has to take on this fight again: FC Bayern defender Dayot Upamecano.

Before the French began their training on Tuesday, they gathered in a large circle for a minute’s silence. “All of our thoughts are with our coach and his entire family. You are not alone,” wrote Kylian Mbappé on Instagram. Then Didier Deschamps flew home. But that doesn’t change the fact that he wants to shave Guy Stéphan’s head five more times before the World Cup final on July 19th.