Depth a despair for Deschamps' France
Perhaps Deschamps was struck by a different 'R', however; the 'R' of reality. In the first two games of their defence, they looked unbeatable as a unit, and that didn't change. On the other hand, his team's depth has been decimated by injuries, which could prove disastrous if they are needed later in the tournament.
What did Didier Deschamps hope to gain from this match, given that his team had already qualified for the round of 16?
Based on the nine changes he made to the starting eleven, he prioritised rest, rotation, and records.
As the first outfielder to earn his first French cap at the World Cup since 1966, Axel Disasi's debut marks a historic moment. Steve Mandanda, at 37 years and 247 days old, surpassed Bernard Lama as the team's oldest player in history. And when William Saliba came off the bench, he became the 24th member of their squad to play in Qatar, an all-time record for a single World Cup.
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Perhaps Deschamps was struck by a different 'R', however; the 'R' of reality. In the first two games of their defence, they looked unbeatable as a unit, and that didn't change. On the other hand, his team's depth has been decimated by injuries, which could prove disastrous if they are needed later in the tournament.
The first half was a chaotic mess due to all the changes made. France was disjointed and had only four touches inside the opponent's penalty area, while Tunisia had nine. France had their fewest first-half shots in a group stage match since 1966.
Tunisia struggled with shooting and converting at the tournament. Wahbi Khazri, however, came through for them on the 32nd try in the year 2022. He became the first African player in World Cup history to score in three straight starts and contributed to the fifth consecutive goal for Tunisia this year.
But as news of Australia's goal swept across the Education City Stadium, Tunisia's focus turned to defence in the hope of keeping their lead alive just in case Denmark could sneak an equaliser. They failed to register another shot throughout the course of the game, settling deeper and deeper into their shape. Even Deschamps throwing the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann into the fray didn't see Les Bleus register a shot on target until the 82nd minute.
It looked like they may have snuck an equaliser in the closing moments, but a VAR-overruled offside against Griezmann ended France's World Cup record match-winning streak at six, whilst it was their first defeat in the tournament since the 2014 quarter-final against Germany. Now they will wait to see who they'll face in the last 16, but another disappointing performance like this could see their quest for back-to-back titles come to an early conclusion.
