Stephen A. Smith went on First Take and wondered whether France could "finally get it done" at the World Cup. France won the World Cup in 2018. They were in the final in 2022. That's not ancient history — that's the last two tournaments.
This isn't a niche fact buried in football trivia. Kylian Mbappé became a global superstar in that 2018 run. France beat Croatia 4-2 in the final. It was everywhere. And four years later, they went to penalties against Lionel Messi's Argentina in what most people consider the greatest World Cup final ever played.
France don't need a redemption arc
Les Bleus are not a team searching for their moment. They are one of two nations — alongside Argentina — who have genuinely dominated international football this past decade. Two finals in a row. One trophy. The other lost on penalties after Mbappé scored a hat-trick.
The squad heading into the 2026 World Cup is not a project either. Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise, William Saliba, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Eduardo Camavinga — this is a team built to go deep in tournaments, and the market reflects that. France are consistently priced among the top three favourites to lift the trophy, and nothing about their current group suggests that's going to change.
The real conversation around France isn't whether they can win one. It's whether this generation can add a second star and cement themselves as one of the great international sides of any era.
What this actually tells us about ESPN's football coverage
Smith is a sharp broadcaster when he's talking about what he knows. NBA takes, NFL debates, boxing — he earns his platform there. But soccer coverage at American sports networks has long had a credibility problem, and moments like this are exactly why European and South American fans tune it out entirely.
If ESPN wants to be taken seriously on the World Cup — which, given it's being hosted in North America in 2026, they probably should — this is the kind of basic error that can't keep happening. France won the World Cup eight years ago. That's the floor of knowledge required for the conversation.
