Five reasons France won the World Cup

#4 The full-backs grew as the tournament went on

Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez

There aren’t many areas where this France side looked weak going into the tournament, but one place they did look short was at full-back. Didier Deschamps selected both Benjamin Mendy and Djibril Sidibe in their squad, despite both suffering injuries last season, meaning it was difficult to know if they were fully fit. This meant that they went into the first game with Lucas Hernandez, who hadn’t been a regular at Atletico Madrid, at left back, and Benjamin Pavard, who had spent the entirety of last season playing at centre back for Stuttgart, at right back.

Both looked a bit uncomfortable in the opening match with Australia, and there was a belief that teams could have success in wide areas against France. However, by the time the final came about, they were two of Deschamps’ most reliable performers. They didn’t always offer too much in attacking areas, but they did the job that they needed to do in their defensive third. Having said that, one of the moments of the tournament came in their round of 16 match with Argentina, when Hernandez’s over hit cross came all the way to Pavard on the far side, and he hit a sensational half volley, which was right up there with the best goals of the tournament.