Friday 30 November 2018, 15:10

Varane: Les Bleues can do what we did

  • Raphael Varane won the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ with France

  • The central defender hopes the country’s women’s team can emulate their success

  • “They’ve got what it takes to do well”

Since winning the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™, Didier Deschamps and his squad have been keen to stress that it is not just the coach and his 23 players who are world champions, but the whole entire nation of France.

The country is hoping the same will be true one year on from the men’s success, when it hosts the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019™. And once again, the whole nation will be identifying with the cause, no one more so than Bleus defender Raphael Varane.

“I think France are ready,” the Real Madrid player told FIFA.com. “Women’s sport has come on in leaps and bounds and the tournament has all the makings of being a great one. The facilities are in place and the organisers will be ready.”

Organisational aspects aside, the centre-half, who set Les Tricolores on the way to victory over Uruguay in the quarter-finals at Russia 2018, is convinced that success will also come the way of his compatriots in the women’s team. “For them to be playing a World Cup straight after our win couldn’t be better,” said Varane, who was named in the 2018 FIFA/FIFPRO World XI. “To my mind, 2019 is a continuation of what happened in 2016 and 2018, and I hope things go as well for them, as they did for us.”

As they wait to see if the 2018 world champion’s words of encouragement will bring them luck, Les Bleues, like the other 23 participating teams, will find out who awaits them in the group phase when the Draw takes place. All will be revealed at 18:00 (local time) on 8 December 2018, at La Seine Musicale, near Paris.