England will stop Didier Deschamps joining exclusive club if they beat France – here's how
The Three lions face Les Blues in the quarter-finals of World Cup 2022, and the France boss is on course to do something very special

For England (opens in new tab) and France (opens in new tab), Saturday night's World Cup 2022 (opens in new tab) quarter-final is ultimately about one thing – making it into the last four – but for Les Bleus head coach Didier Deschamps, there's something quite significant riding on it from an individual point of view.
Having guided Les Bleus to glory four years ago in Russia, Deschamps is looking to achieve the barely precedented feat of winning multiple World Cups as a manager.
In fact, it's only ever been done once – way back in 1938 by legendary Italy boss Vittorio Pozzo, who steered the Azzurri to the first two of their four World Cup triumphs.
Brazil have also retained the World Cup – lifting the (original, Jules Rimet) trophy in 1958 and 1962 – but they did so under different managers.
Should Deschamps take France all the way again in Qatar, he'll also become just the second person to be involved in three World Cup victories as a player and manager combined – after Mario Zagallo (who won it with Brazil as a player in 1958 and 1962, then as manager in 1970).
As a player, Deschamps captained Les Blues to their first success on home soil in 1998, meaning 2018's triumphant campaign saw him become just the third person to win the World Cup as a player and manager – after Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer (who claimed football's ultimate prize as a player and manager in 1974 and 1990 respectively with West Germany).
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Tom Hancock started freelancing for FourFourTwo in April 2019 and has also written for The Analyst and When Saturday Comes, among others. He supports Wycombe Wanderers and has a soft spot for Wealdstone. A self-confessed statto, he has been known to watch football with a spreadsheet (or several) open...
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