Lacklustre Les Bleus need a wake-up call: Richard Buxton
World champions winless in last 5 games, in which they have conceded first
The hand of history is now firmly gripping Didier Deschamps' shoulder, and he knows it.
Weighing heavily on the France coach is more than a personal mission to be the first nation since Brazil in 1962 to retain the World Cup.
No reigning holder has failed to reach the Finals after Fifa scrapped its automatic qualification route almost two decades ago.
But another 1-1 draw with the Ukraine yesterday morning (Singapore time) sees Les Bleus staring at a potential crisis as the world champions prolonged their winless streak to five matches.
Since edging out Germany in their opening Euro 2020 clash, they have continually come up short in 90-minute encounters, often against opposition that are undeniably inferior.
Deschamps is no stranger to a barren run; he presided over an identical stretch in 2013, mitigated by three games being non-competitive affairs.
But the former midfielder now draws striking similarities with an ignominious predecessor, with his side conceding the first goal in each of their last five outings.
Raymond Domenech, the previous architect of that statistical anomaly, fell on his sword after approaching the 2010 World Cup campaign in a precarious position and Deschamps is in danger of emulating him.
France scraped into South Africa 2010 courtesy of a controversial play-off victory against Ireland which did little to paper over the cracks emerging in their camp.
Failing to qualify from the group stage in South Africa eventually resulted in Domenech's dismissal, amid a backdrop of open revolt from his players, in full view of the world media.
A two-game cushion allows Deschamps to still cling to top spot in Group D ahead of hosting a second-placed Finland later this week, yet he will need to trust his team's natural instincts if they are to book their place at next year's tournament in Qatar.
His decision to bench the experienced centre-back Raphael Varane and field Kurt Zouma instead contributed to France conceding first on the stroke of half-time. Mykola Shaparenko was afforded the freedom to break the deadlock with a thunderous strike through heavily disorganised defending.
Starting with a wasteful Anthony Martial and benching prodigal son Karim Benzema, similarly saw France spurn numerous chances to snatch victory. The Manchester United forward's first international goal in five years owed more to good fortune than sharp finishing.
To be sure, Deschamps had to do without key midfielder N'Golo Kante, who withdrew from the squad last week due to injury. Kylian Mbappe also pulled out, after picking up a calf problem during last week's 1-1 draw with Bosnia & Herzegovina.
But there should still be enough talent at his disposal to beat the likes of Ukraine.
Deschamps is under no illusion that his players will face sterner challenges than the one they encountered at Kiev's NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium.
After this week's next World qualifier against Finland, France have tough opposition lined up.
Next month, they will be pitted against Belgium, still the world's top-ranked side, in the last four of the Nations League Finals and a potential showdown with hosts and newly minted European champions Italy in the offing if their respective stars align.
Questions will again be posed of Deschamps should Les Bleus fail to get a result then.
Doubts had already surfaced in the wake of France's premature Euro 2020 exit, leaving the Clarefontaine hierarchy briefly agonising over whether to retain his services.
Three minutes was all it took for a decision to be reached on the 52-year-old's future.
Tellingly, however, they stopped short of extending his contract beyond its current expiry date of December 2022, shortly after the World Cup has run its course.
Unless Deschamps can resurrect the spirit of 2018, his time will also come to an end.
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