France, the luck of the draw! France could easily make the last eight

The Fifa World Cup is very nearly upon us so we asked our friends in the excellent website The League of Ireland Blog if they could share with us their opinions on some of the leading contenders in the upcoming World Cup.

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France

By Thomas Stafford

Winners in 1998 and runners up in 2006, France have a rather prestigious history at the World Cup in recent years but there seems to be a lack of aspiration for this tournament as the nation looks ahead to Euro 2016 on home soil. ‘Les Bleus’ were knocked out in the group stages in both 2002 in 2010 so they are very much hot and cold when it comes to the competition. An unconvincing 3-2 win over Ukraine in the play-off round has failed to lift expectations after coming second to Spain in the qualifying round. They will not be able to rely on the helping hand of Thierry Henry anymore and the squad is going through a transitional phase at the moment so this year may come a bit too soon for them. The draw has been fairly kind to them though and the French may find themselves in a quarter-final without too much trouble. As we all know anything can happen at a World Cup and France may be a dark horse to look out for in Brazil.

The French squad sees a mixture of youth and experience with an average age of 26.7. In Hugo Lloris they have an excellent goalkeeper who on his day is one of the best in the world. The Tottenham keeper should have a relatively experienced back four in front of him but he be playing a key role if France are to go all the way. As captain he will be the man hoping to lift the famous trophy on July 13th.

Franck Ribery has recently said that this will be his last World Cup for ‘Les Tricolores’ and the Bayern Muncih man would love to finish off on a high. There’s no doubt that he is one of the most talented players in an impressive French midfield and will be a huge threat in a rejuvenated French side.

What a season it has been for PSG midfielder Yohan Cabaye. A big money move from Newcastle to the vastly-wealthy Paris club brought a lot of pressure but he has had a great season, helping the club to capture the Ligue 1 title. He will be at the heart of the French midfield and what a season it could be for the ex-Lille man!

Didier Deschamps has only gone with three strikers in his 23 man squad but in Karim Benzema he has one of the best forwards on the planet. The Real Madrid man will have the hopes of the nation on his shoulders as the talisman in this France side. He will cause nightmares for many a defence and is worth a bet on being the top goal-scorer in the competition given France’s opponents in the group stage.

Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba is undoubtedly one of football’s hottest prospects at present and the former Manchester United midfielder has a big World Cup ahead of him. It seems like he has been around for a while now but at the tender age of 21 this is just the start of a promising career. His off-field antics can sometimes cause trouble but he seems to have gotten himself on the right track and has the potential to be a French great. A World Cup win could propel the youngster to stardom.

Ask any French person about their World Cup squad and one name comes to mind. Samir Nasri. The Manchester City attacker was not named in Deschamp’s squad, to the dismay of the French public, not least his very angry girlfriend! Despite helping City to capture the Premier League title, the former Arsenal man was not named in the squad and will have to watch the tournament at home.

Without disrespect to France’s Group E opponents, it is a group they surely must aim to qualify top from. Switzerland were drawn as top seeds in the group and their French neighbours will be happy to have avoided the bigger sides. The Swis will probably be their toughest test and I would expect them to finish second to France. They are joined by Ecuador who qualified fourth in the South American qualifiers. One would expect them to find it tough against a strong French side and I believe they will battle it out with Switzerland for second. Finally, Honduras complete the quartet. ‘Los Catrachos’ as they are known will find it hard going at the tournament but manager Luis Fernando Suaréz will have them well prepared. He has experience with Ecuador having guided them to the second round of the 2006 tournament, their best ever showing at the finals.

Having looked at the possible outcomes I believe that France will reach the quarter-finals in Brazil. They should top their group before a last-sixteen tie with probably Nigeria or Bosnia-Herzegovina. That would most likely leave a quarter-final with Germany which I believe is beyond them. I expect France to give a good showing of themselves in Brazil but the latter stages of the competition looks to be beyond them.

Players like Ribery, Evra, and Sagna are pushing on in their careers and will want to have a big World Cup. Others such as Pogba, Varane and Grenier are just starting their international careers and it will be real chance for them to announce themselves on the world stage. I don’t think that they’ll be real contenders come the business end of the competitions but I believe they will give a good account of themselves and it will be a good preparation for Euro 2016 which offers a real chance of silverware.