France’s Attack Gets the Headlines, Their Defence Deserves the Credit Too

Creating a World Cup-winning side is all about balance. As a disciplined defensive midfielder who won the tournament in 1998, and as a cautious manager who won it again in 2018, Didier Deschamps knows this better than most. This summer, his France team feel more attack-minded than usual. And yet, ominously, their defensive record remains excellent.

Clean Sheets Without Half-Chances

It is not simply that France have yet to concede a goal in the knockout stage of this tournament, recording clean sheets against Sweden, Paraguay and Morocco. The real story is that they have barely even allowed any half-chances.

Sweden looked meek when recording just 0.7 xG in their round-of-32 match — but that is more than Paraguay (0.2) and Morocco (0.1) managed between them across both of their matches. In their 2-0 defeat on Thursday night, Morocco only had sights of goal from set pieces or hopeful long-range shots.

This is despite Deschamps continuing to use four attackers — a departure from his previous approach at World Cups, when he often favoured a more responsible central midfielder shifted out wide to help screen the defence.

The Midfield Duo No One Expected

Neither Adrien Rabiot nor Manu Koné is a world-renowned holding player. Rabiot is more of an all-rounder. Koné is an unheralded 25-year-old in his first international tournament. But they have been excellent together — patrolling the centre as a tight duo, trusted to cover the width of the pitch, sometimes without significant support from ahead.

France are making it work — in part because of their boldness in attack.

How France Handled Hakimi

France’s main task against Morocco at Gillette Stadium was coping with Achraf Hakimi — the best right-back in the tournament and familiar to the France players who have played club football with him at Paris Saint-Germain.

Hakimi has sometimes seemed like a right-back, a No.10 and a No.9 combined at this World Cup — carrying Morocco’s main attacking threat and operating as their most advanced player on occasions. France, in general, seemed happy to let him push forward, knowing he would leave space to break into.

That is not quite what they would have done at previous tournaments. In 2018, box-to-box midfielder Blaise Matuidi played on the left and would have been practically man-marking an attacking full-back like Hakimi. But here, Désiré Doué played a little deeper than usual, and Kylian Mbappé drifted over to that side — always ready to break into the space Hakimi vacated. France’s passing network showed the extent to which Mbappé took up inside-left positions throughout the match.

The tactical logic was clear: invite Hakimi forward, then punish the space he left behind.

Midway through the first half, there was the perfect example. Hakimi pushed forward and was tackled by Doué — Morocco’s most dangerous player was stranded upfield. This was France’s dream scenario. They broke quickly. Mbappé drifted left, sprinted in behind, got on a pass from Michael Olise — and was clumsily brought down inside the box by Noussair Mazraoui. Mbappé’s subsequent penalty was saved after a long VAR review.

Counter-Pressing as Defensive Cover

France eventually went ahead 10 minutes into the second half with a classic Mbappé curler — but the build-up to it told the deeper tactical story.

The heat at this World Cup has made it physically demanding to close down all game, but France have been excellent at pouncing to regain the ball quickly after losing it. For the opening goal, France effectively won possession through counter-pressing three times within 20 seconds — and as scrappy as that period appeared, it demonstrated how their attackers were simultaneously denying Morocco counter-attacking chances and creating their own.

Their defensive work is not about shielding the back line. It is about being proactive — Morocco attempted to launch a break, but Rabiot stepped in to intercept and put France on the attack, shortly before Mbappé curled home.

At 1-0, the same pattern repeated itself. Hakimi was caught high up the pitch acting as a right-winger. William Saliba jumped in to make an interception. Mbappé was free to break into the space Hakimi had vacated — and a Morocco centre-back, Issa Diop, flew into a deliberate foul to halt the counter-attack.

Often, a team’s strength is also their weakness. That was the case for Morocco and Hakimi throughout the match.

The Second Goal: Simplicity Through the Middle

The second goal was a rare example of France attacking through the middle. The instigator was again Mbappé, who played a simple pass to Ousmane Dembélé — coming off the right flank — to record an assist. More crucially, Mbappé made a sudden burst that occupied both Morocco centre-backs simultaneously, giving Dembélé the freedom to cut onto his right foot and squeeze a shot under Yassine Bounou to put the game beyond reach.

It was a goal built on movement rather than individual quality — though the individual quality was considerable.

Why This Matters Against Spain

You can argue that France have not been seriously tested yet — or at least not since their 3-1 win over Senegal in their opening fixture. A semi-final meeting with Spain tonight would be a different challenge entirely.

Spain have conceded just 0.31 xG per match at World Cup 2026 — a joint record low since 1966. Their high defensive line, aggressive counter-press and relentless possession make them a fundamentally different proposition to Sweden, Paraguay and Morocco.

But to play two knockout matches without conceding even a sniff of a chance — while deploying four proper attackers — is hugely impressive. Deschamps has not compromised on his unusually daring approach, and the numbers suggest it is working.

The tactical question Spain pose is whether France’s four attackers can break through a defensive structure that has not been pierced once at this tournament — and whether Rabiot and Koné can continue to cover the width of the pitch against a Spain side that moves the ball at speed and counter-presses with relentless coordination.

Deschamps spent his playing career winning the ball in tight spaces and managing games. He knows a tactical challenge when he sees one. But so far at World Cup 2026, his most adventurous tournament setup to date is producing results that his most cautious versions never quite managed.

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