Deschamps Ends Stade Pierre Mauroy Run With France’s 4-2-3-1

France opened its final warm-up for the 2026 World Cup against Northern Ireland at stade pierre mauroy, with Didier Deschamps in what was described as his last home match as France coach. The game carried extra weight because it came eight days before France’s opener and after the 1-2 loss to Côte d'Ivoire.

Mbappé and Dembélé Start

France lined up in a 4-2-3-1, with Kylian Mbappé leading the attack and Ousmane Dembélé supporting him through the center. Sascha Stegemann of Germany handled the match, while Northern Ireland was expected to use a 3-4-2-1.

Mbappé entered the match with 56 goals for France and sat one away from Olivier Giroud’s record of 57. He was also within reach of Laurent Blanc’s 97 caps in the national-team appearance ranking, giving the evening a personal milestone chase on top of the team’s final rehearsal.

France’s Final Test

This was France’s last match before departing for the 2026 World Cup, so the setup pointed toward the team’s likely tournament shape rather than a one-off experiment. The article said the lineup should be close to the one planned against Senegal, which made the opening XI a useful indicator of how Deschamps wanted to start the tournament run.

The only hard stop was the calendar: France was eight days from its World Cup opener when this match kicked off in Villeneuve-d'Ascq. For supporters in the stand, the broader question was not whether the squad would arrive later, but whether this looked like the group Deschamps intended to take into the tournament after one more home match on French soil.

Deschamps in Villeneuve-d'Ascq

Deschamps’ final home match with the national team closed a long French chapter at the same time France was trying to reset after the defeat to Côte d'Ivoire. That combination of symbolism and urgency sat on the same pitch: a coach’s last home game, a captain chasing records, and a lineup built for the World Cup rather than the evening alone.