The marquee match of the group stage featured a rematch of the 2016 Euro championship game, Portugal vs France, the European champs against the world champs.
Fresh off a shellacking at the hands of Germany, Fernando Santos went back to the drawing board in search of greater squad balance.
With Portugal unable to control the midfield, changes were needed and one of the unlikely victims was Bruno Fernandes, a player Jose Mourinho criticized in the build-up to the final group stage game.
The double pivot of Danilo and William Carvalho was another issue with neither player offering the progression of quality, efficiently stepping into midfield to provide outlets or pressure higher up the pitch.
Didier Deschamps was in an interesting place as well. Having already qualified for the Round of 16, he rotated his outside-backs and pulled Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot from the starting lineup. The substitutions seemed like an attempt to rotate the squad while still fielding a strong enough lineup to win the group.
The two sides entered the tournament among the favourites to claim the title and this group stage matchup was earmarked as one of the marquee games of the first phase. This tactical analysis will look at the keys to the match, especially looking at each teams midfield. While the game was rather tame from the 75th minute on, each side seemingly signing a pact of non-aggression, second half substitutions impacted each teams tactics and provided 30 entertaining minutes.
Lineups
Santos set out his Portuguese in a 4-1-4-1 with Rui Patricio in goal. Despite poor performances against Germany, the backline remained the same with Nélson Semedo on the right, Raphaël Guerreiro on the left and the pair of Rúben Dias and Pepe in the middle. Danilo Pereira operated as the lone pivot with Renato Sanches and João Moutinho joining him centrally. Bernardo Silva and Diogo Jota continued to start in the wings while Cristiano Ronaldo manned the top of the formation.
For Didier Deschamps, the team sheet showed a 4-2-3-1, but it more closely resembled a 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield. Tolisso, listed as the right attacking midfielder, moved into the right half-space to connect with Paul Pogba and NGolo Kanté in central midfield. Kylian Mbappé pushed high up the pitch with Karim Benzema while Antoine Griezmann completed a midfield diamond playing just underneath the two forwards. Jules Koundé, a centre-back for Sevilla, received the start at right-back with Lucas Hernandez starting on the left. Presnel Kimpembe and Raphaël Varane were the two centre-backs and Hugo Lloris took his place between the pipes.
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