The final whistle of the 2026 World Cup: Thank you les Bleus… and thank you football

Read the original article in French here.

Let's be honest: La Roja gave us a lesson in football. This French team was unrecognizable, unable to turn the game around. No revolution after halftime. No storming of the Bastille… nothing. Just immense frustration. Then came the final whistle: 2–0. Les Bleus would not be playing in the World Cup final.

Of course, we would have loved one last chance. A third-place match against Argentina. A chance for revenge. A way to finally close the wound left by the unforgettable 2022 final—that incredible 3–3 thriller that will forever be remembered as one of the greatest matches in football history… and one of the most heartbreaking for an entire nation dressed in blue, white, and red. But that's football. Or rather soccer, but for us, it will always be football.

Is it really rigged? Honestly… who cares?

When we go to the movies to watch Batman, we know perfectly well it isn't real. Yet we still buy a ticket, grab some popcorn, sit back, and enjoy every minute of it.

Football is much the same. Yes, there's enormous money involved. Yes, there are interests far beyond our understanding. But at the end of the day, all we want is for the ball to do the talking.

As French supporters, we almost don't care whether Spain or Argentina lifts the trophy. We simply want the best team to win. Not to rewrite history. Not to fuel endless debates on social media. Not to analyze every replay frame by frame. Just to silence, once and for all, the conspiracy theories that slowly poison our passion for the game.

Let's be clear: this third-place match often feels like little more than a consolation prize. Neither the English nor the French truly wants to play it. The only thing on their minds is getting home to their families and turning the page.

And yet, they have to.

Because millions of children will be watching. They won't see a third-place playoff. They'll see their heroes. And when you wear the French jersey, there is no such thing as a meaningless match.

Maybe this "small final" isn't so small after all. Maybe it's one last stand. Maybe the true final chapter of the 2026 World Cup is France vs. England—the greatest rivals in football.

Thank you, les Bleus

For one month, the world pressed pause.

The wars didn't disappear. Neither did the problems. But for ninety minutes at a time, millions of fathers, mothers, and children had only one thing on their minds: a football.

Perhaps that's why football is the most popular sport on Earth. No matter where you come from or who you are, we've all kicked something at some point—a crumpled piece of paper, a stone, a soda can, or a football during recess. It may well be the simplest sport in the world, and certainly the most universal.

So thank you, Didier Deschamps.

Fourteen years on the French bench. World Champion as a player in 1998. World Champion as manager in 2018. Two consecutive World Cup finals and one semifinal. A remarkable longevity that will be difficult to match. A generation guided to the very summit of world football.

Now the torch passes to Zinédine Zidane. And let's admit it: simply writing those two words already makes us wish it were 2030. Allez les Bleus!

F.P.

Author's Note – My Proustian Madeleine

They say all it takes is a scent or a taste to bring back a forgotten memory. My madeleine doesn't taste like butter. It smells like freshly cut grass on a football pitch. Warm summer evenings. The crackling sound of an old cathode-ray television. Cheers echoing through the house. And above all, the legendary voices of Thierry Roland and Jean-Michel Larqué, arguing passionately during live matches as if the whole of France were sitting in their living room.

My first World Cup was in 1982. I was ten years old. Spain. Seville. France vs. West Germany.

I can still picture Ettori in goal. Amoros, Bossis, Trésor and Janvion in defense. The legendary "Magic Square" of Giresse, Tigana, Platini and Genghini in midfield. Rocheteau, Six and Lacombe leading the attack. Then came the tragedy.

Patrick Battiston was brutally wiped out by Harald Schumacher. His motionless body. Broken teeth. Silence. No red card. Even today, millions of French people still talk about that moment with the same emotion. And yet France fought back. 1–1. Then 3–1 in extra time. We believed we were heading to the final. Then the unimaginable happened. West Germany came back to make it 3–3. The penalty shootout. The unbearable tension. France lost. And yet, despite not becoming world champions, that tournament remains unforgettable. Because perhaps the greatest World Cups aren't always the ones you win. They're the ones that stay with you for the rest of your life.