Are France too good for the World Cup? Have goalkeepers cracked stutter penalties? Day 29 recap
Who on earth can stop France?
That’s the question the rest of the world is asking after Didier Deschamps’ side brushed aside strong opposition in Morocco to become the first semi-finalists of this year’s World Cup.
They could even afford for star man Kylian Mbappe to miss a penalty. Following in Lionel Messi’s footsteps, Mbappe merely scored a beautiful goal later in the match to tie back level with Messi in the remarkable race to win the Golden Boot. Both players are now on eight and it feels impossible to predict who will win the trophy.
It’s far easier to forecast that France will win the World Cup. Their attacking riches are almost unlike anything we have seen at this level.
Elsewhere in the tournament, the other six quarter-finalists prepared for their date with destiny. First up later today? Spain and Belgium.
Thursday’s result
France 2-0 Morocco
Are France just too good for everyone else?
France are a level above any other team we have seen at this World Cup.
It’s quite rare for a team to go into a World Cup as favourites, then immediately justify that tag (France won their opener against a very good Senegal side 3-1), and win every game thereafter looking, playing and feeling like champions elect.
The last nation to kick off the tournament as favourites – at least with bookmakers – and then lift the trophy was Spain in 2010, but while they were Euro 2008 winners and clearly had the most talented team, Spain’s dreadful World Cup record (they had never reached a semi-final in a World Cup before, and haven’t reached that stage since) left big question marks over whether they would go all the way.
France don’t have that issue. The 2018 winners, who have the same manager now as eight years ago in Didier Deschamps, look unstoppable, with a very comfortable 2-0 win over Africa’s best team in Morocco just another pointer for them emerging victorious on July 19.
On paper, certainly, they are so far ahead of their opponents. Spain are unbeaten at the back having not conceded a goal yet but with Lamine Yamal struggling for his best form, they look pretty uninspiring in attack. We all thought Argentina had a good defence, too, but conceding four goals to Cape Verde and Egypt blew apart that theory.
Lionel Messi has got them out of trouble on multiple occasions and, while he is absolutely good enough to carry a team deep into a tournament, surely even Messi can’t win Argentina this World Cup on his own, especially if they come up against France.
France’s variety in attack is what sets them apart. If you somehow manage to stop Mbappe – and only Norway have prevented him scoring so far (although he did get two assists against them) – then there’s the current Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele, who has now scored five goals (France are the first team since Brazil in 2002 to have two players reach five).
If not them, how about one of the best young attackers in European football in Desire Doue? Or Bradley Barcola can come off the bench and do something special, or Rayan Cherki, one of the most entertaining and creative players in the Premier League last season, who can barely get a kick for this team.
And then there’s Michael Olise, top of the assist chart with five. His fluidity, movement and remarkable passing range make him the real difference maker for this France team. It’s easy to forget France only scored four goals in six games at Euro 2024. Deschamps letting the handbrake off and adding Olise into the mix has changed everything. It’s so difficult to open up against France when Olise has the passing range to cut open your defence.
Physical, uncompromising, rule-bending Paraguay are the only team to literally lay a glove on France so far. Is that the only way to try and stop them? Spain, if they beat Belgium, might have joy by denying France possession, but otherwise it looks like slim pickings.
Should players shelve stutter penalties?
There was one negative for France on Thursday: Kylian Mbappe becoming the latest player at this World Cup to mess up a penalty after doing a ‘stutter’ run-up.
The theory behind a stuttered penalty, i.e. pausing and then re-starting your run-up, is to take the goalkeeper out of his rhythm, leaving them guessing as to when you’re going to shoot. It also means you can, in theory, wait for the keeper to give away which direction they are going to dive before you strike the ball.
What Mbappe perhaps failed to reckon with was how good Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou is at saving penalties. Bounou has now saved four in his World Cup career, maintaining a remarkable career record.
Even the best spot-kick takers struggle against Bounou. Mexico’s Raul Jimenez has only missed one of the 29 penalties he’s taken in club football, when Bounou outfoxed him during his stutter run-up by feigning to dive one way and then going another.
Yassine Bounou outfoxes Kylian Mbappe (Lars Baron/Getty Images)
He outwitted Mbappe, too, in that he was the last to blink, waiting until the very last second for Mbappe to telegraph his penalty to Bounou’s left and making a comfortable save. Just call him the stutter penalty whisperer.
Fluffing your lines with a stutter penalty is a trend at this World Cup. Lionel Messi blew his one for Argentina against Austria, as did Harry Kane against Croatia. The England striker was given a reprieve when he was allowed a retake, which he dispatched after scrapping the stutter.
Shellacking the ball at full power doesn’t necessarily work either – particularly if you’re a centre back – but a player of Mbappe’s quality, power and placement should be able to find the top corner or side netting with his eyes closed.
What’s the impact of Pulisic injury revelation?
The Christian Pulisic saga is a pretty peculiar note for the U.S. World Cup campaign to end on.
What with the Folarin Balogun affair dominating the build-up to the Belgium game and now the fallout over Pulisic dominating the aftermath, the bigger issues — such as why the team couldn’t get past its usual round-of-16 stage despite having home advantage, a top level manager and unprecedented help from the president and FIFA — are not getting much publicity.
In case you missed it, Pulisic gave a post-Belgium interview to Fox in which he said of his injury: “It’s just frustrating to end like that, of course, but now I have time to rest, so hopefully it’ll be OK.”
His gratitude for being able to have a rest seemed pretty reasonable, given it’s the end of a long season for his club side AC Milan and the national team, plus the enormous pressure he has had on his shoulders during a home World Cup.
Did his words mean he wanted a rest instead of continuing in the tournament with USMNT? Of course not.
The Athletic subsequently revealed that Pulisic had suffered a bone bruise and microfracture in his right leg against Belgium, sidelining him for several weeks, so it’s not as if his injury was trivial.
Christian Pulisic lies stricken after injuring his leg against Belgium (Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
Not that it was enough for Carli Lloyd. In response to Pulisic’s original interview, the former USWNT international and now Fox pudit posted on X that “You rest when your playing career is over, period.” Then, after the nature of Pulisic’s injury was confirmed on Thursday, she doubled down, refusing to apologise and claiming Pulisic rested “all year” in preparation for the tournament (he has played 46 times for club and country since last August).
It felt sensationalist, although she was not alone, with her fellow Fox pundit Landon Donovan also offering some trenchant criticisms.
Anyway, it feels that if Pulisic had enjoyed a productive tournament with goals, assists and player of the match performances, none of this would be an issue, whether the USMNT had reached the last eight. The fact is he didn’t and that is at the heart of the problem.
Billboards still dotted around around the U.S., from Los Angeles to New York, have him placed alongside Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the star turn of the tournament. It certainly didn’t end up that way, rest or no rest.
What comes next should be fascinating.
What to watch on Friday
Today’s match very much represents the ‘Here’s what you could have won’ stage for USMNT as their conquerors Belgium take on Spain for a place in the World Cup semi-finals.
On paper this looks like a comfortable Spain victory, but those assumptions might be wrong for a couple of reasons.
Luis de la Fuente’s side haven’t shown their best form yet, albeit they haven’t really had to in the knockout stage against a submissive Austria and an unambitious Portugal. Lamine Yamal has only scored one goal (and delivered no assists) in 315 minutes, leaving the goalscoring to Mikel Oyarzabal instead. Spain’s progress has been built on a rock-solid defence that has yet to concede from five matches.
If they face the Belgium side that stuttered through the group stage and were 2-0 down to Senegal in the round-of-32 in the 86th minute, then Spain might win comfortably.
If they face the revitalised Belgium team that has since scored seven goals in 124 minutes and looks like a unified, coherent side in attack and defence without their dropped stars Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku, we could have a game on our hands.
Today’s fixtures
Spain vs Belgium (3pm ET, 12pm PT, 8pm BST)