Headaches for France boss Deschamps over Griezmann, Pogba, Kante and stars of 2018 triumph

In the 18th minute of the last World Cup final, a deft free-kick from Antoine Griezmann opened the scoring, forcing an own goal that put France in control.

It’s rare sight these days to see Griezmann on the pitch so early in a fixture.

In that final Croatia would equalise 10 minutes later, but on a see-saw, thrilling night in Moscow, France mostly posed the harder questions.

Before half-time Blaise Matuidi’s pressure in the penalty box, as Griezmann applied his set-piece expertise again from a corner, provoked another error, a handball by Ivan Perisic, Griezmann converting the penalty.

Matuidi? He has not appeared on any pitch, anywhere since January and, at 35 and without a club, he edges towards his official retirement.

Goal number three in France’s 4-2 victory was a wonderful strike, set up by Griezmann for Paul Pogba to apply precision and power to a shot from the edge of the penalty area. Pogba was a headliner in this summer’s transfer window with the second move of his career from Manchester United to Juventus, but has not seen any competitive action at all since early April and because of his decision to delay, then belatedly undergo surgery on a knee problem, may not play for Juve this calendar year.

All of which preys on the mind of the coach, Didier Deschamps, who guided France to that World Cup triumph and has cherished the methods and many of the players who participated in the final. Various of them are out of sorts, one way or another, making Deschamps acutely aware of the relative powerlessness of the manager in international football.

France's Paul Pogba celebrates winning the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Reuters

He’d like to see more of Griezmann in action at weekends. But the 31-year-old has spent his