With the head coach having released the handbrake, his side were far superior compared with four years ago in Qatar against the same opponents
The scorelines may have been exactly the same, but the stylistic gulf in France’s two World Cup knockout performances against Morocco could not have been greater.
In the space of just a single tournament cycle, Didier Deschamps has embraced a vastly different style, one based on a freeform attacking line. As a one-two punch from Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé sent the team into this year’s semi-finals, the 57-year-old’s tactical reinvention was once again vindicated.
