France head coach Didier Deschamps has rejoined the national team camp at the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2026 after briefly returning home following the death of his mother, the French Football Federation (FFF) announced on Saturday.
Deschamps Returns After Missing Final Group Match
Deschamps missed France's final group stage match against Norway due to his mother's death, with assistant coach Guy Stephan taking his place. He traveled back to attend his mother's funeral before returning to the team in Massachusetts. 'Didier is with us,' the federation said in a message to the media, as quoted by Reuters.
France's Dominant Group Stage Performance
France won all three group stage matches for the first time since the 1998 FIFA World Cup, when they won their first global crown. According to OptaJoe, this clean sweep in the group stage is an ominous sign as France aims to add a third star to their jersey. France, based in Boston, will face Sweden on Tuesday in New Jersey in their round of 32 clash.
Deschamps' Legacy with France
Deschamps has been a vital part of the French setup, guiding them to their second FIFA World Cup title in 2018 and a runners-up finish in 2022 against Argentina. He also led France to the UEFA Nations League title in 2020-21 and a third-place finish in the 2024-25 edition.
Dembele's Historic Hat-Trick
Ousmane Dembele scored a historic first-half hat-trick in France's 4-1 win over Norway, with Kylian Mbappe providing two assists. According to OptaJoe, Dembele became the first player to net a first-half hat trick at the FIFA World Cup since Oleg Salenko in 1994. His hat-trick came just 32 minutes into the match, the second earliest in World Cup history, behind Erich Probst's 24-minute hat-trick for Austria in 1954.
Dembele is only the third French player to score a World Cup hat-trick, joining Just Fontaine and Kylian Mbappe. His hat-trick goal was the first of the 182 scored at this World Cup to involve all 11 French players in the build-up, as per OptaJoe.
Mbappe-Dembele Duo Makes History
According to Opta Analyst, the pairing of Dembele and Mbappe is the third duo to combine for five goals in a single World Cup, with Mbappe delivering two assists to Dembele in the Norway clash. The other pairs to achieve this are Poland's Andrzej Szarmach and Grzegorz Lato, and Germany's Miroslav Klose and Michael Ballack.
France have scored three goals in each of their last World Cup matches, the joint longest run of a side scoring three or more goals in successive World Cup matches, and the longest since Spain did it between 1998 and 2002.
