Our series of individual World Cup team previews rolls on with France. The two-time trophy winners open their tournament in New Jersey next Tuesday against Senegal, with stars aplenty and big expectations. This post, like all of our World Cup team previews, is free for all to read, but we'd greatly appreciate if you contributed to our site's sustainability by becoming a paid subscriber, or by making a one-time donation.
France made back-to-back World Cup finals and is one of the favorites to reach a third straight, but no matter what happens this summer, 2026 is guaranteed to be a last ride of sorts for Europe's most dominant recent World Cup team.
Didier Deschamps, the long-serving (since 2012) coach who helped bring France a second World Cup in 2018 and then a silver medal in 2022, will leave his post after this tournament, with Zinedine Zidane expected to be the next French coach.
Before that, he'll try to add a third World Cup to his collection after also winning in 1998 as a player, a road that begins with a tournament-opening match against Senegal at MetLife Stadium on Tuesday, June 16. How realistic will a ride off into the sunset be in what will be Deschamps's fourth World Cup cycle leading Les Bleus?
The attacking options before him are almost too plentiful to fit into one team. While Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé lead a star-studded attacking line, the calling card of France during their major tournament successes under Deschamps has been its defense, and the the squad's ability to gel in a manner that avoids a repeat of the disaster that was the 2010 World Cup, when the French squad descended into chaos, with player mutinies and poor performance resulting in a winless group-stage exit with just one goal scored.
One final time, Deschamps has to find the right balance among the abundance of precocious talent up and down his roster. His work also means navigating the big decisions that come with having to bench some of the world's top players, or get their buy-in to function as a substitute, while once again chasing the biggest trophy on offer.
ELO Rating: 3rd
Group I: France, Senegal, Iraq, Norway
Group Schedule
vs Senegal, Tuesday, June 16, East Rutherford, New Jersey, 3:00 pm ET
vs Iraq, Monday, June 22, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 5:00 pm ET
vs Norway, Friday, June 26, Foxborough, Massachusetts, 3:00 pm ET
At their last World Cup: 2022, Runner-up. Topped a group with Australia, Tunisia, and Denmark, then beat Poland, England, and Morocco before falling to Argentina on penalties in a memorable final
Record in UEFA qualifying: 5W-1D-0L, +12 goal differential (16 gf/4 ga)
Head Coach: Didier Deschamps
Record with France: 115W-35D-29L, +214 goal differential (384 gf/170 ga)
Preferred formation: 4-2-3-1 but it really plays like a 4-2-4 in possession with France's overflow of attacking talent pushing further forward
Nickname: Les Bleus
Pre-tournament vibe check
France enters this World Cup looking less than invincible because they lost a friendly at home to Ivory Coast, their first defeat since losing to Spain in UEFA Nations League play in June 2025. There are also those questions around how Deschamps best fits all his attacking players together, but that seems more like a Champagne problem than a true concern. Rayan Cherki, Marcus Thuram, and Désiré Doué might be guaranteed, locked-in starters for every other nation at the World Cup, but there's a chance some or all of them have to settle for roles as substitutes for France.
There's also the mood of Mbappé. The center-forward ended his club season with Real Madrid unceremoniously, getting booed and whistled by fans at the Bernabéu and falling out with interim coach Alvaro Arbeloa, amid an increasingly toxic end to the season behind the scenes at the Spanish super-club.
There are no questions about Mbappé's ability, but he seems mercurial, and questions will be raised at the first signs of any struggle for France once the World Cup begins.
France also competes in what looks like one of the strongest four-team groups, as Senegal and Norway each have the kind of attacking talent that could cause problems. This is the also first World Cup they'll play without former captain and current LAFC player, goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, so it's a major test for Mike Maignan of AC Milan in Italy.
Who to watch
It's Kylian Mbappé but it's not just because he's the face of the team and one of the biggest soccer stars on the planet. This will be Mbappé's first World Cup playing as a true center-forward, after lining up as a winger in both the 2018 and 2022 tournaments while Olivier Giroud played as the usual striker.
The attack now is built around getting service to Mbappé in a way it wasn't before, but it's not like this a new role for the 27-year-old French superstar. Through UEFA qualifying on the road to the 2026 World Cup, he filled that role without issue, scoring five goals in four starts as center-forward while fueling a perfect qualification campaign. Mbappé also enters this World Cup having, at club level, just scored his fewest number of non-penalty goals since the 2019/20 season with Paris Saint-Germain.
While Mbappé had 42 goals in 44 matches played across all competitions for Madrid last season, 12 of those were from the penalty spot, so 30 non-PKs and six assists is a slight drop in his open-play goal involvements while having a tumultuous club season in Spain.
Mbappé is one of two players to ever score a hat trick in a World Cup final and one of two teenagers to ever score at a final, but how the more matured, world-wearied version of the new tip of the French spear handles the weight of goal-scoring expectation at this World Cup could be fascinating to watch.
X-factor
Michael Olise. This will be his World Cup debut and he enters coming off an unreal club season with FC Bayern Munich in Germany, and having just scored a hat trick in France's 3-1 friendly win over Northern Ireland.
Olise recorded 48 goal contributions in 52 appearances (22 goals, 26 assists) in all competitions for Bayern, behind only club teammate Harry Kane's 68 and level with French teammate Mbappé for the second-most goal involvements among players in the Top 5 European leagues during the 2025/26 season.
To date, Olise hasn't directly assisted an Mbappé goal with the national team, but Olise only has 17 appearances with the senior national team. How the 24-year-old London-born attacker fares in his first World Cup could dictate how far France makes it. If it clicks quickly with Mbappé or even Dembélé, Olise could be poised to continue with the run of goal-producing form he's been enjoying since 2025.
The full 26-player roster
Goalkeepers: Mike Maignan (AC Milan), Robin Risser (Lens), Brice Samba (Rennes)
Defenders: Lucas Digne (Aston Villa), Malo Gusto (Chelsea), Lucas Hernandez (PSG), Theo Hernandez (Al-Hilal), Ibrahima Konaté (Liverpool), Jules Koundé (Barcelona), Maxence Lacroix (Crystal Palace), William Saliba (Arsenal), Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich)
Midfielders: N'Golo Kanté (Fenerbahçe), Manu Koné (Roma), Adrien Rabiot (AC Milan), Aurélien Tchouaméni (Real Madrid), Warren Zaïre-Emery (Paris Saint-Germain)
Forwards: Maghnes Akliouche (Monaco), Bradley Barcola (Paris Saint-Germain), Rayan Cherki (Manchester City), Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain), Désiré Doué (Paris Saint-Germain), Jean-Philippe Mateta (Crystal Palace), Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid), Michael Olise (Bayern Munich), Marcus Thuram (Inter)
Our predicted Starting XI
