“Given the first half, with the three goals we missed including the penalty, we were not at our best in that respect. But the opponent had to run, they were tired and that opened spaces. We blocked the opponent and prevented them from moving and we were able to play further up,” Deschamps said.

“That’s three semi-finals in a row,” he said. “That’s already good. But even though it seems logical and natural for us to be here you still have to achieve it,” he further added.

The best part about this French team is that there’s no real ego in the dressing room despite having a star-studded forward line, where there’s Ballon’ d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele and one of World Cup’s true stars, Kylian Mbappe.

Mbappe has led the goal-scoring chart in this competition, with eight goals only ahead of Lionel because of his assists. He was the difference-maker in France’s Round of 32, when it won 1-0 against a defensive unit in Paraguay. He was yet again the influencing factor in the 2-0 win over Morocco, a banana peel kind of encounter. Mbappe opened the scoring, and set up Dembele for the second goal.

If Mbappe or Dembele don't do the damage, France have two creative masters in the form of Michael Olise and Desire Doue, with the former already establishing himself as one of the best creators in the competition, with five assists. Doue, whenever presented with an opportunity, hasn't shied away from taking his chances.

Yet, France enters the semi-final with one big threat: an untested defence. Most teams that go up against Les Bleus prefer to sit back and defend deep instead of taking the game head on. The only clash where its defence could have been tested was against Norway. However, Norway rested 10 of its starting XI, making it a one-sided affair.