France have begun their World Cup campaign much in the fashion which would be expected of a team brimming with potential, but lacking in experience.
Didier Deschamps’ side scraped a 2-1 win in their Group C opener against Australia in a game which, in truth, the French should have won with much more ease.
That was followed by another narrow success with a 1-0 win over Peru on Thursday in their second match. The victory was enough to secure France's place in the knockout stages of the competition, but was further evidence that the French are still struggling to set the stage alight.