Can Didier Deshamps Save History, Bring French World Cup Leading Champions?

France coach Didier Deschamps predicts Argentina, which will face in Qatar's 2022 World Cup final, will not be as good as the semifinals. (Twitter/@Football365)

JAKARTA - In the history of the World Cup, there are only two countries that have won twice in a row. The first country was Italy at the 1934 World Cup at home and the 1938 World Cup in France. At that time, the World Cup was only followed by 16 countries and immediately used the knockout system.

In 1934, Italy defeated the United States, Spain, and Austria before stepping into the final against Czechslovaki. Then at the 1938 World Cup, Italy had to fight Norway, the home team France, Brazil, until they met Hungary in the final match.

The second country is Brazil at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden and the 1962 World Cup in Chile. Although still followed by 16 countries, the match started using half the competition and then continued to the knockout system.

At the 1958 World Cup, Brazil joined in Group 4 with the Soviet Union, England and Austria. Brazil won the group, then met Wales and France in the knockout stages before finally winning 5-2 against the host Sweden in the final match.

Meanwhile, at the 1962 World Cup, Brazil joined in Group 3 withsichslovakia, Mexico, and Spain. Qualified as group winners, Brazil then competed against England in the quarter-finals. Brazil's supervisors continued in the match against Chile in the semifinals, until they continued to the final againstERSlovakia.

After that, there is no more team participating in the World Cup that can become champions twice in a row. Brazil failed after being a finalist three times in the 1994-2002 period. Its chances were broken by France at the 1998 World Cup. Thus, the Samba Team only won the 1994 World Cup and 2002 World Cup.

Was Les Bleus able to break the curse of 60 years of the World Cup in Qatar's 2022 World Cup final against Argentina on 18 December 2022?

When referring to the UEFA Champions League event, the possibility remains. Look what French player Zinedine Zidane did when he was Real Madrid coach. He managed to break the curse of 38 years of the UEFA Champions League.

Previously only Liverpol was able to become the champion of the UEFA Champions League twice in a row in 1977-1978. However, Zidane and Real Madrid proved, even breaking records with three consecutive lifting trophies.

Winning on penalties against Atletico Madrid in 2016, 4-1 against Juventus in 2017, and winning 3-1 against Liverpol in 2018.

According to Zidane, the main key to his success is hard work. Another most important thing is of course people who continue to actively provide the best for the club, both players, coaches, and the Real Madrid management team.

"We worked hard, we had great players, and the team followed me," Zidane told Telefoot as reported byMarca.

"I take responsibility for a lot of things, but I have a great team behind me. If it wasn't myself it wouldn't be possible. I needed to get around myself with the people who made me comfortable. Otherwise, it won't work," added Zidane.

Didier Deschamps, Zidane's partner when he won the 1998 World Cup was optimistic, nothing was impossible. He and the team will do their best to make all supporters happy with the perfect result in the final match.

"We see Argentina very strong against Croatia, but they will not always be that strong," said Deschamps, quoted by SportsMax on December 15, 2022.

"On the other hand, we were not perfect against England and Morocco, but we could have played better in the final against Argentina later," Deschamps assured.

Previously, France had broken the predictions of a number of parties that reigning World Cup champions would not be able to qualify from the group stage. This refers to three previous World Cup events.

Italy as the defending champion was unable to do much in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Gli Azzurri are in a distended position in Group F.bang against Paraguay and New Zealand, and lost their final group match against Slovakia.

Likewise Spain. After winning the 2010 World Cup, the matador team fell in Brazil's 2014 World Cup. Spain did win 3-0 against Australia in the last match of Group B, but the points obtained were not enough to lead Spain to qualify for the last 16. Only third behind Chile and the Netherlands.

Germany also suffered the same fate at the 2018 World Cup. Losing the first match against Mexico, the Panzer Team actually still had a chance to qualify for the last 16 after winning against Sweden in the second match of Group F. Unfortunately, they performed poorly in the last game, losing 0-2 to South Korea.

However, it is different from France. This team made by Deschamps could actually top Group D, winning the goal difference from Australia. In fact, Brazilian legend Ronaldo Luis Nazario thinks France is like a champion because it always shows a consistent game in the knockout stages.

Prancis has a very solid team, either in defense, attack, or midfield.

From the start, Ronaldo did win France to enter the final with Brazil. It turned out that it was not in line with predictions.

Brazil no longer exists. But France, game after game, shows their status as favorites and I still see them as strong favorites," Ronaldo said as quoted by AFP.