Team profile: France

The emerging star of this French side is 21-year-old Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba, whose imperious dominance in the middle of the park and driving runs into the area suggest that Les Bleus may finally have found a credible heir to Patrick Vieira. And then there’s Real Madrid’s 21-year-old center-back Raphael Varane — quick, alert and artful on the ball and one of the best young defenders on view.

France finally lifted the trophy in 1998, when Zinedine Zidane led France to a 3–0 victory over Brazil at the Stade de France in Paris. But many will remember the most decisive moment of that campaign as the two second-half goals by fullback Lilian Thuram (the only goals he scored in more than 100 appearances for France) to bring his team back from 1–0 down to Croatia and save them from a depressing defeat in the semifinal.

France qualified by the skin of its teeth with a last-minute playoff victory over Ukraine, but that result and the character it showed has fostered new faith in the qualities of this team. That, and a relatively easy group, will probably see them face Nigeria or Bosnia in the Round of 16, but their quarterfinal opponent would then likely be Germany — an epic encounter with a grudge-match history, but this time the smart money would be on the Germans.

The likes of Pogba, Varane and Mahmadou Sakho represent a new generation unsullied by the traumas of the 2010 exit, and looking to make their mark. Not only will they sail through their group and the Round of 16; they have nothing to fear from a German squad yet to determine its best lineup and could even shock Brazil in the semifinals. A long shot, certainly, but stranger things have happened in football.

Jean-Marie Le Pen, erstwhile leader of France’s far-right National Front, had complained in 1998 that the men who wore the shirt of Les Bleus in that tournament were “not a real French team” because so many of them had roots in the Maghreb, sub-Saharan Africa or further afield. Such talk was muted by their victory, but when the 2010 campaign in South Africa imploded amid dressing room strife, that prompted renewed discussion about French values in the national soccer setup.

When France was struggling in the qualifying campaign for Brazil, Marine Le Pen, daughter of Jean-Marie, who now leads the party, declared that “a rupture has been consummated between the people and this French team.” It was the sting of that suggestion that they were not fit to represent France that spurred many of the players to triumph over Ukraine and then lead the crowd in a raucous rendition of “La Marseillaise.” Win or lose, Les Bleus remain a central focus of France’s complicated national conversation on race and identity.