Nicolas Anelka telling manager Raymond Domenech where to go in very colourful language amid squad mutiny at the 2010 World Cup. Karim Benzema‘s conviction for complicity to blackmail team-mate Mathieu Valbuena over a sex tape.
Allegations Paul Pogba hired a witch-doctor to put a spell on Kylian Mbappe. Adrien Rabiot’s mum blasting Kylian Mbappe’s parents for their son’s ‘arrogance’ and then again after the forward missed the penalty that sent the country out of Euro 2020.
And that’s just in the last 12 years! For fans who enjoy following the soap opera of French football’s seemingly never-ending psychodrama, there’s never any shortage of material.
Indeed, before the Qatar World Cup this winter, Les Bleus were plagued by problems, with numerous injuries, scandal and families warring in the stands threatening to undermine the team once again.
But they’ve overcome all those issues. And now? After cruising past Poland 3-1 in the last-16 on Sunday, it is only tranquility among Didier Deschamps and his players.
The absences of Pogba and Benzema have proved a blessing in disguise, former problem child Rabiot is reintegrated back into the team, and Mbappe is well on the way to winning the Golden Boot.
England should certainly be worried ahead of their quarter-final clash on Saturday. So just how have France done it? Below, Sportsmail takes a look at their remarkable turnaround.
France have gone from injuries, scandal and families warring in the stands to total tranquility
The World Cup holders have gone from being plagued by problems to looking like the best team in Qatar under Didier Deschamps; Sportsmail takes a look at their remarkable turnaround
No Karim Benzema a blessing in disguise
It might seem absurd to say this about Karim Benzema, a striker of such prodigious talent that he scored 44 goals in 46 appearances in all competitions for Real Madrid, which fired him to the 2022 Ballon d’Or, but France don’t really miss him.
Of course, he’s a wonderful goalscorer, and once compared the difference between him and fellow striking rival Olivier Giroud to a Formula One car and a go-kart.
But at the 2018 World Cup, Giroud – now at AC Milan – famously did not even score once yet was a crucial cog in France’s attack, getting the…