Adrien Rabiot says France want to give head coach Didier Deschamps “something to rejoice over” at the World Cup following the death of his mother.
Deschamps missed France’s 4-1 win over Norway in their final group game on Friday having returned home, but will be back in the dugout for Tuesday’s last-32 knockout tie against Sweden at the New Jersey/New York Stadium.
Two-time winners France, beaten finalists in 2022, are big favourites to progress, while Rabiot said it had not been easy for Deschamps and that the players had rallied behind him.
The AC Milan midfielder told a press conference: “We do know that for the coach it has been very difficult, that he was really affected by this loss.
“The group is very united, we know what he’s going through, and we’ll try to give him something to rejoice over. I think that’s the least we can do.”
Rabiot, who sat out Friday’s win against Norway after starting in both group victories over Senegal and Iraq, said the French camp had been shocked by the news, but Deschamps had returned “with the willpower to go as far as possible in this World Cup.”
“I don’t think that it’s so easy to have to grieve in these conditions,” Rabiot added. “This is football and now we have the World Cup and it is the way it is.
“He has 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 negativity to the squad.”
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Arsenal defender William Saliba missed the final group win due to an ongoing back issue, but is expected to return to the starting line-up, while Marcus Thuram (muscle strain) is unavailable and N’Golo Kante remains doubtful.
Sweden qualified as one of the eight best third-placed teams. After thrashing Tunisia 5-1 in their opening game they lost by the same score to the Netherlands and then drew 1-1 with Japan in their last group match.
Borussia Dortmund midfielder Daniel Svensson said his side have “a great chance” to progress despite admitting France were his favourites to lift the World Cup on July 19.
He told Sweden’s national broadcaster SVT: “I don’t think so much about whether we’re favourites or not, to be honest, I’m mostly thinking that we’re going to do what we’ve been talking about all this year — we’re going to do our best, and if we do that, we have a great chance to beat them.
“They’re one of the favourites to win the whole thing, so of course they’re favourites [against us]. They are my favourites.”
Victor Lindelöf may switch from his midfield role back into defence after Isak Hien sustained a tournament-ending hamstring injury against Japan, with Tottenham’s Lucas Bergvall likely to make the starting line-up.
