Soccer
Is this the best-ever French World Cup team?
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The World Cup enters its semi-final stage tonight as the two favourites for the competition meet head-to-head in Dallas when France take on Spain.
It's a game of hugely fascinating contrasting styles, as the Spanish's controlled and possession-based football comes up against the attacking zip and verve of the French and their all-star frontline.
A win for Didier Deschamps me would see a third final in a row, as France go looking for a third World Cup triumph following victories in 1998 and 2018.
Those two teams are obviously lauded in the country's sporting history, but how does this current crop compare to those who have lifted the trophy?
If the 2026 class do go on to earn a third star, would they be the best French World Cup team of all time?
World Cup Final 2018 highlights
Watch France’s victory over Croatia
Goalkeeper - 2018
It's somewhat unfair to start by comparing the goalies from the three different teams, because current number one Mike Maignan has had to wait for his time to be the first choice for his country.
There's no doubt he's one of the best keepers in Europe right now, but he's coming up against two of the all-time greats.
Fabian Barthez was the goalie in 1998, and he remains the joint record-holder for most clean sheets in World Cup history, while thirty years later, it was captain Hugo Lloris, the country's most-capped goalkeeper, who lifted the crown.
On that basis, you'd have to hand this win to Lloris, but only by the finest of margins.
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Defence - 1998
Three great defensive units, which are always key to winning a World Cup, but which one is the best?
2018, despite having the immensely talented Raphael Varane in the centre and as a collective a top backline, they perhaps didn't have the same calibre of names as the current French team.
William Saliba is one of the best in the world, while Dayot Upamecano is one of the most underrated centre-backs around. While at right-back, Jules Konde continues to impress.
However, when you roll out the back four from 1998 in Lilian Thuram, Marcel Desailly, Frank Lebouef and Bixente Lizarazu, it's hard to argue against a quartet of genuine all-time legends.
And that's without even mentioning Laurent Blanc, who was suspended for the final.
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Midfield - 1998
The problem you have here is that 1998 contains arguably the greatest French footballer of all time, Zinedine Zidane, who pretty much trumps anything the other two sides can offer. Especially when he was surrounded by Didier Deschamps and Emmanuel Petit, who weren't too shabby either.
There's no doubt in 2018 N'Golo Kante and Paul Pogba were at the top of their games during their win, but it's hard to compete with the world-class names from France '98.
This year, Adrien Rabiot and Manu Kone have been solid, but it's another win for the OG World Cup winners.
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Attack - 2026
Now this is where there's an interesting contrast between the three teams.
For all the midfield magic of 1998, attack wasn't their strongest area. Stéphane Guivarc'h started the final and wasn't the same level as the forwards who France could field in both 2018 and 2026.
Kylian Mbappe is at the centre of both those teams, where he was a young support act for Olivier Giroud and Antoine Griezmann in 2018, but eight years on he's the main man.
The skipper is in the form of his like and when you combine him with Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise and Bradley Barcola, it's an attack as good as we've seen on a World Cup stage.
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