France are the most impressive team I have seen in the World Cup so far, but their team faces the challenges of a divided nation, a situation examined by football writer Simon Kuper in the Financial Times. Kuper notes that the federation’s president since 2023 (Philippe Diallo) unites two different worlds. He passed through the obligatory grande école, Sciences Po university in his case, that is the entry ticket to the French ruling class, but also played football in Nantes’ youth academy. And, unusually among France’s overwhelmingly white elite, he is the son of a boxer from Senegal. That background helps him manage relations between the diverse national team and a divided nation that may elect a far-right president next year. France’s talent pool is certainly unmatched. Les Bleus reached four of the last seven World Cup finals, winning in 2018 and runners-up last time. Dozens of the 98 French-born players at this tournament represent their parents’ countries of origin, inclu...