French football is suffering from election fever

If England’s excuse for their inept performances is Gareth Southgate, what explains France’s failure to come to life at this month’s European Championships? World Cup winners in 2018 and runners-up in 2022, the French were one of the pre-match favourites going into the tournament. They’ve been even worse than England, finishing second in group D having won once and drawn twice against mediocre opposition. They’ve scored just two goals, and one of them was an own goal from an Austrian.

Yet this is a settled squad under the same coach, Didier Deschamps, who led them to World Cup glory six years ago. Several players from that tournament are still around, world-class talent such as Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, N’Golo Kante and Olivier Giroud. Many of the French fans who have made the trip to Germany expressed their dismay after Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw with Poland.