EAST RUTHERFORD — Still very much grieving the loss of his mother, Didier Deschamps broke his personal M.O. of not delving too much into a singular player to express his appreciation of star striker Kylian Mbappe embracing him after France’s opening goal of a 3-0 demolition of Sweden in the Round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Tuesday evening at MetLife Stadium.
“It really struck me,” Deschamps said. “He’s our captain. He’s been exemplary since Day 1. The group was united, and they did what they had to do when I was away… Now that I’m back, they know I’m here 100%. The team spirit of this group doesn’t make you win matches, but if it goes the other way around, you can lose matches. The collective strength is above everything, but Kylian, as a captain, is a shining example.”
After an early French onslaught went fruitless, Mbappe finally opened the scoring in the 45th minute with his first of two goals on the evening. He cut through a pair of Swedish defenders to the left of the six-yard box, then curled a brilliant effort inside the right post.
The superstar, who is now tied with Lionel Messi for the most goals at this World Cup with six, made a beeline for his manager on the touchline and wrapped him in a hug. The two were soon joined by the rest of the squad.
“I think the whole team, the entire team, was there with him,” Mbappe said. “I think that’s important. There are things in the world that are more important than football. But as I’ve said, it’s the DNA of this group to be all together.”
Deschamps learned of his mother’s passing after France’s second match, a 3-0 win over Iraq, and promptly flew home to be with his family, missing the final group stage match. Assistant coach Guy Stephan oversaw Les Bleus in a 4-1 win over Norway to clinch the top spot in Group I.
He returned to begin preparations for the knockout stages, which he admitted was a nice distraction.
“As far as I’m concerned, I am here, I am good,” Deschamps said. “It’s good to be busy since Friday evening since I arrived back in the United States. I’m back as a head coach, everything is going well with the French national team… It was very difficult for me and the French national team, it was important that I left. They did what they had to do.”
Veteran midfielder Adrien Rabiot commended his manager for putting on a brave face despite the “tragic events” he and his family went through.
“He smiled a lot, he tried to be enthusiastic, although he’s very affected by this grief,” Rabiot, who plays his club soccer for Italian giants AC Milan, said. “I think he’s trying not to show it and transmit anything negative to the squad. It’s been very difficult. He was really affected by this loss. This group is very united; we know what he’s going through, and we’ll try to give him something to rejoice over. It’s the least we can do.”
France certainly looks primed to deliver a third World Cup title to Deschamps, who won in 1998 as a player and in 2018 as a manager. The first five matches of the Round of 32 featured either last-minute winners or shootouts in closely-contested affairs. Les Bleus are beating the doors off their opponents.
“Slow down, please,” Deschamps began. “There are issues even when there aren’t issues. There’s always room for improvement… You can keep going and find problems. It’s not all gold… We watched the other Round of 32s; it’s difficult for everybody. For us, it was not that difficult. We reached the Round of 16, but it’s only the Round of 16. We have to stay confident.”
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