France star Kylian Mbappe dedicated his goal to Didier Deschamps following the death of the France manager’s mother last week. After breaking the deadlock against Sweden, the Real Madrid forward ran to the head coach and celebrated his goal with a hug.
The World Cup-winning head coach missed the final group stage win over Norway after returning to France for the funeral of his mother. Deschamps had been forced to temporarily leave their World Cup camp and as a result, Guy Stephan was in the dugout for their 4-1 win over the Norwegians thanks to Ousmane Dembele’s hat-trick.
Deschamps was back in the dugout for their Round of 32 showdown as he took on Graham Potter’s Sweden. After a frustrating 45 minutes, the Golden Boot-chasing striker got his fifth goal of the tournament, moving one behind record-tournament goalscorer Lionel Messi, with a superb individual finish.
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Sweden’s defensive instability came back to haunt them as a quick corner routine undone their solid defensive work in the first-half. Mbappe drifted past Alexander Isak before beating Viktor Gyokeres and curling into the far corner.
He brushed his teammates aside as he wheeled away in celebration before sharing a hug with Deschamps. Speaking ahead of the first knockout match, the 57-year-old detailed the grief following the passing of his mother.
He said: “How am I? I’m doing okay. Obviously I had complicated days where I was devastated.
“But for my own personal well-being and for the good of the France team, I had to leave. Afterwards, they did what was necessary.
“Since I’ve been back, I’ve got back into this preparation for this match against Sweden. It’s good to have my head occupied.”
View 2 ImagesFrance head coach Didier Deschamps returned to the dugout against Sweden after the death of his mother.(Image: Getty Images)
Deschamps had learned of the death of his mother following their 3-0 win over Iraq, which confirmed their place in the knockout stages.
France had planned to pay their respects to Deschamps during their final group match against Norway. However, FIFA rejected their request for a minute’s silence in honour of their head coach’s late mother and to wear black armbands during the contest.
Instead, FIFA issued instruction to observe a silence for the victims of the earthquakes in Venezuela.
Midfielder Adrien Rabiot felt that Deschamps had hid his emotions from the squad so it didn’t distract them from avenging their World Cup defeat from four years ago, where they were beaten on penalties by Argentina.
The AC Milan man said: “Didier came back with the willpower to go as far as possible in this World Cup. It is something that, of course, will also help him to forget a little bit about these tragic events.
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“He smiled a lot. He tried to be enthusiastic, although I know that he’s very affected by his grief. I think he’s trying not to show it, not to transmit any negative to the squad.”