Belgium

Mbappé can transform Deschamps’ France into the great entertainers | Paul Doyle

09-Oct-2021 11:37:56 | The Guardian

If Les Bleus perform in the Nations League final, Deschamps can claim to be the man to lead them into a glorious new phase

Before his country’s thrilling win over Belgium on Thursday, Hugo Lloris said he could sense something special in the air around the France camp. That smelt like ordure by half-time in the Nations League semi-final, when Belgium were 2-0 up and Les Bleus, if not quite stinking out Turin, looked off-colour.

But by the time Theo Hernández arrowed in a fabulous last-minute goal in a 3-2 victory, it was fair to wonder whether we had witnessed not just an extraordinary turnaround, but a more substantial transformation of France. Are the world champions at last going to fulfil their potential?