A last year for Didier Deschamps. The coach confirmed that he would leave the French team after the 2026 World Cup. This departure will put an end to fourteen years of a historic reign started in 2012. However, this longevity could have stopped much earlier, during a evening which was engraved in memories at the Stade de France.
More than ten years ago, the Blues played their future in play -offs for the 2014 World Cup against Ukraine. Beaten 2-0 in kyiv, they had achieved a spectacular reversal by winning 3-0 on the return. Without this feat, Deschamps' fate at the head of the selection could have been called into question.
In the columns of JDDMathieu Valbuena returned to this decisive episode. “From my time, I retain above all the dam for the 2014 World Cup against Ukraine. We had lost 2-0 in kyiv and we had turned everything back on the return. The adventure started from there. We had returned to the hearts of supporters after the 2010 fiasco and Knysna where I was also, alas ”says the former international in remarks relayed by
Le10sport.
Deschamps saved by victory?
The midfielder, who lived closely this turning point, also evokes the precarious situation of his coach at the time. “If we had been eliminated, who knows if Didier Deschamps would have stayed in office?” But we had won and I do not know if the Stade de France has known such a beautiful atmosphere since ”he continues.
Finally, this victory saved the Deschamps era and relaunched a dynamic that will lead to the summits: a final of Euro 2016, a world title in 2018 and a new final in 2022. The match against Ukraine will therefore remain like a rocking point, the one who avoided an early eviction and allowed by Deschamps to enter the history of the Blues.
