France players hail ‘victory of the people’ after campaign against National Rally party

The election defeat of the far-Right in France was celebrated by many of the national team’s most well-known players, many of whom have African heritage, as the squad prepared for their Euro 2024 semi-final against Spain on Tuesday.

Among those thanking their fellow voters for stopping the advance of the far-right National Rally led by Marine Le Pen, were Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konaté; Marcus Thuram of Inter Milan; the Barcelona players Jules Koundé and Ousmane Dembélé; as well as Real Madrid’s Aurélien Tchouaméni.

Many of the players posted on their Instagram pages in celebration of the result which saw Le Pen defeated by a combination of the hard left, and the centrist party of president Emamnuel Macron.

The New Popular front, a coalition of left, centre-left and Green parties, have the largest share of seats in the National Assembly. Before the election many France players used press conferences to urge young voters to reject the far right. Kylian Mbappé, the team’s star and captain was among them although his message was more unclear – suggesting he opposed the far Left as well.

Tchouaméni posted on X: “La victoire du peuple” – the victory of the people.

Koundé said that his “relief” at the result had been equal to that of his concerns on the lead-up to the ballot. “Congratulations to all the French people,” he posted, “who mobilised so that this beautiful country that is France did not find itself governed by the extreme Right.” Dembélé posted a picture of himself smiling followed by a graphic of the voting breakdown on his Instagram stories.

Thuram posted on his Instagram story: “Congratulations to all those who responded to the danger over our beautiful country”. “Long live diversity, long live the Republic, long live France. The fight goes on.” France face Spain on Tuesday for a place in the final of Euro 2024.

‘French team try to unite divide nation’

The Marseillaise will doubtless boom out across the stadium in Munich a lot louder and much more heartfelt when the latest generation of Les Bleus line up before Tuesday’s semi-final against Spain and another date with destiny.

The failure of Marine Le Pen’s hard-Right party Rassemblement National to prevail in this week’s French elections could yet be the turning point in France’s Euro 2024. In fact, what had become the defining issue for the country, and by extension a squad of many who could trace their immediate heritage outside of France, was supplanted by the end of Didier Deschamps’ press conference. In its place came the usual arguments over performance.

It was tense for Deschamps, who turned on a Swedish journalist for calling his team “boring”, but in many respects it would have been a relief to his players. As ever, the needle in football is sometimes pushed relentlessly in one direction to the issue of the day – politics, scandal, culture wars – but it always returns to the mean. Which is recriminations about performance.

“If you are getting bored, watch another game!” Deschamps retorted. He had begun by accusing the journalist of being a member of the French press in disguise, which told you all you needed to know about the relationship between this France team and their own media.

Overnight the big issue had been the defeat of Le Pen, who was poised to take control of France’s Assemblee Nationale only to lose to a coalition of left, centre-left and Green parties. Had RN prevailed then, come Tuesday night, the Marseillaise may have meant something very different to many of the young men who had, in the days before, urged their fellow French citizens to reject the extremist views of Le Pen. 

None of those who had shared their views on the election were selected for the official Uefa press conference, unsurprising given the governing body’s terror of politics. Adrien Rabiot, the midfielder, said nonetheless that the squad were “concerned about the result of the election. We have these things playing on our minds”. 

By the end it was back to the question of why the pre-eminent team in international football over the past six years had looked so flat. They have not scored a single goal from open play in the tournament, and Deschamps was even asked why Olivier Giroud, 37, was not starting games. Giroud is France’s all-time record goalscorer. He also played seven games in the triumphant 2018 World Cup campaign and did not register a shot on target, never mind a goal.

Deschamps said that with the exception of Spain, it had been difficult for every side at this Euros – perhaps thinking about the criticism levelled at Gareth Southgate. “We have the ability to make lots of Frenchmen and women happy through the results we have pulled out the bag,” Deschamps said. “Especially in a period which has been difficult for our country.”

There were more complaints about the leaking of tactical plans. “It’s never nice to see when you have really worked hard on something and by the end of the session the media have already caught wind of it,” Rabiot said.

Deschamps told his players the team and the formation en route to the quarter-final against Portugal last week, according to L’Equipe, the French newspaper.

There is pressure on the partnership of Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann, which has failed to deliver so far. Deschamps made it clear that Mbappe’s broken nose was improving but still a cause of major discomfort for the man himself. The mask, Deschamps said, may have to be worn “for weeks, possibly months”. It restricts Mbappe’s peripheral vision.

Deschamps is convinced his team are ready to win the Euros. Certainly they were not great entertainers when they won in Russia 2018, but it is now reaching the stage where anything short of victory in Berlin on Sunday will be regarded as failure.