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Much to all of our amusement, the French messed up their 2010 World Cup horribly. After Thierry Henry had cheated Ireland out of a World Cup spot and christened the new Team 33 podcast, the divisions within the French camp were lain bare with strike threats and a Nicolas Anelka insult towards the hapless manager Raymond Domenech.
Four years on, problems remain. But Didier Deschamps has brought some level of order to Les Bleus and having squeaked past Ukraine in a tense playoff, the French land on their feet in Brazil with an easy group - on paper at least!
If a France squad lined out in a 4-3-3 and with star names like Karim Benzema and Paul Pogba and cannot reach the knockout stages from a group featuring Ecuador, Honduras and Switzerland then there is something seriously wrong.
However they will miss Franck Ribery whose has not recovered from injury.
And having been placed in the kinder half of the World Cup draw, they have the potential to go fairly deep into the competition.
Team 33 spoke to Matt Spiro about France's preparations and the potential for controversy:
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World Cup Record
Appearances: 14
Best Results: Winners (1998)
Squad
Goalkeepers: Mickael Landreau (Bastia), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham), Stefan Ruffiere (Saint Etienne)
Defenders: Mathieu Debuchy (Newcastle), Lucas Digne (Paris St-Germain), Patrice Evra (Manchester United), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Eliaquim Mangala (Porto), Bacary Sagna (Arsenal), Mamadou Sakho (Liverpool), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid)
Midfielders: Yohan Cabaye (Paris St-Germain), Morgan Schneiderlin (Southampton), Blaise Matuidi (Paris St-Germain), Rio Mavuba (Lille), Paul Pogba (Juventus) Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle), Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille)
Forwards: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Olivier Giroud (Arsenal), Antoine Griezmann (Real Sociedad), Loic Remy (Newcastle), Remy Cabella (Montpellier)
Manager: Didier Deschamps
Fixtures and Results
Group E
June 15 vs Honduras (Porto Alegre) 3 - 0 (W)
June 20 vs Switzerland (Salvador) 5 - 2 (W)
June 25 vs Ecuador (Rio de Janeiro)
