Only two teams have ever won back-to-back FIFA World Cups in the tournament’s 92-year history.
One was a Brazil side which boasted Pele and Garrincha in 1958 and 1962, the other was an Italy team in 1934 and 1938 who, legend has it, probably had some political help to do it.
This year, France are hoping to achieve that ultra rare and remarkable feat.
And before the attempt to do just that on Sunday, 90min decided to make a combined XI of the best players from their 2018-winning team and their current crop of finalists:
GK – Hugo Lloris (2018)
Lloris could be set to become the first captain to ever lift the World Cup trophy on two separate occasions – which is, well, pretty astonishing considering he’s never really been a top five goalkeeper in the world.
As most Tottenham fans will attest, the France captain was perhaps closer to that top five back in 2018 than he is right now. A mistake in that year’s final aside (which didn’t even matter in the end), Lloris was great at the 2018 tournament, with his highlight being a wonder save to deny Uruguay’s Martin Caceres a certain goal a the quarter-final stage.
RB – Jules Kounde (2022)
Naturally a centre-back, Jules Kounde has been shifted over to right-back by Didier Deschamps at international level, and it’s a move that’s worked wonders for Les Bleus.
Kounde has been outrageously consistent throughout the tournament and, despite Benjamin Pavard popping up with that goal against Argentina in 2018, we’re not going to pretend that he’s not an infinitely better football than Benjamin Pavard. He is. Obviously.
Harry Symeou hosts Andy Headspeath, Quentin Gesp and Jack Gallagher to look back on the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia – join us!
If you can’t see the podcast embed, click here to download or listen to the episode in full!
CB – Samuel Umtiti (2018)
For some players from the 2018 World Cup-winning squad, not a whole lot has changed in four years. Most are going back to another World Cup final and most are still some of the best footballers in the world. Samuel Umititi is not one of said ‘most’.
The centre-back is now plying his trade on loan at Lecce after an injury-riddled few years, which is quite sad let’s be honest. Still though, there’s no denying how good Umtiti was back in 2018 when he had two functioning legs and was seemingly the future of the France and Barcelona defences. He was utterly brilliant.
CB – Raphael Varane (2018)
Speaking of ‘utterly brilliant’, here’s Raphael Varane.
The now Manchester…
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