How France went from World Cup embarrassment to soccer super power

Before it could rise in the World Cup, France first had to fall. And the fall was spectacular. In 2010, four years after reaching the final for the second time in three World Cups, the players revolted against coach Raymond Domenech during the tournament. In response, the managing director of the country’s soccer federation resigned in disgust, and the team left South Africa winless after scoring just once in three games. That matched France’s worst World Cup performance in 76 years. The team, outsiders agreed, had become impossible to coach. Four years later France made the quarterfinals, beginning a streak in which it has reached the final eight in four consecutive World Cups for the first time. If France, ranked No.