Throughout the group stage here, France haven’t looked the potent force on the pitch, that they do on paper. With a squad that possesses the wealth of attacking talent that they do, it is curious that the side struggles as much as they have in front of goal so far.
Didier Deschamps’s system has always seen Olivier Giroud being the focal point of the attack, with the big No.9 using his strength and aerial ability to bring the more diminutive, quicker attackers into play and in their stride.
But that has not worked for the large part of this World Cup thus far, as the big man has generally not been able to impose himself on opposition defenders.
In this game, both Simon Kjaer and Mathias Jorgensen won most of their duels with Giroud, and Deschamps was left cutting a frustrated figure on the touchline.
Deschamps went into the tournament, with the idea of a rolling front three of Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele, but once that didn’t really work in the game against Australia, he switched to Plan A once again, but neither plan has given France any sort of sustained bite in the final third.