Thirty-two years later, Didier Deschamps will see America. As expected, his Blues took advantage of the match against Ukraine (4-0) on Thursday to validate their qualification for the next World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. And on Sunday, the French team completed its qualifying campaign with a new victory against Azerbaijan (1-3).
And if the French coach can therefore have a smile after this fifth success in six matches, this November 17 marks a painful memory for the former midfielder. 32 years ago, the French team saw its qualification for the 1994 World Cup slip away in the final seconds of its match against Bulgaria on a strike from Emil Kostadinov under the bar. A failure which marked the native of Bayonne with a hot iron.
“It’s a disaster”
Four years earlier, the France team had already missed the 1990 World Cup. “That’s twelve years without a World Cup, including the first nine years of my international career. I started in April 1989 against Yugoslavia (0-0) when we were already almost eliminated. We haven’t lost any of our last four qualifying matches, but the die was cast, I’m only arriving and it’s a disappointment of a different nature.”he recalled in an interview with L’Equipe before the 2022 World Cup.
The failure of 1994 left many more traces. “When we see the 1990 World Cup on TV, we say to ourselves that it is essential for a great nation to be at this meeting,” he continued, adding: “So we all think about 1994. We have to be in the United States. And it’s a disaster. The years have passed, but it is indelible. Honestly, to see myself in the state I was in on the field, in tears… I don’t think it has happened to me a second time. »
“It was inconceivable with two home matches. We are not going to bring out professional misconduct, but we do not have the right, he added. That day it could have ended for us, as it did for many. This marked me. There I said, “Never again.” » »
