𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Make no mistake, finding a way through a deep defensive block like this is not easy, even with the quality of players at France’s disposal. Space is at a premium, and the ability to find forward passes into the penalty area is significantly reduced.

The heat may have played a part today, but France lacked a little dynamism with their off-ball running. Full-backs were hesitant to overlap, and midfielders did not often make in-to-out runs from deep, to take central defenders into wide areas and away from the box.

Frustration clearly got the better of France as they started to take aim from distance — 10 of their 12 shots from open play came from outside the box.

The good news for Didier Deschamps is that his side are unlikely to face a challenge quite like this again. Morocco will leave more spaces in behind as they attack through adventurous full-backs, while semi-final opponents will be much more ambitious than this Paraguayan side who dug in and looked to get under France’s skin.