2026 World Cup. France: Lack of success against Iceland, Marcus Thuram still looking for his place

The setup on the eve of the match had led to the belief that a 4-4-2 formation would have been possible against Iceland . This would not have displeased Marcus Thuram , who started on Tuesday, who has been having a blast for two years at Inter within this system in which he revolves around Lautaro Martinez. Another failure!

The former Sochaux player was once again positioned on the left wing. Not in a 4-3-3 as is often the case, but in the 4-2-3-1 that has become the preferred system for Les Bleus in 2025. This was already the case in the Nations League against Germany in June. A match that counted for nothing.

A starter at the last Euro, he ended up losing ground during the competition. And today, with competition at the forefront becoming increasingly fierce, he no longer appears to be a priority option when Didier Deschamps has all his offensive ammunition at his disposal. Forced to reinvent himself for the national team, Thuram also knows he has an obligation to make the most of his playing time. Faced with Iceland's very rigorous low block, his profile wasn't the most obvious one for combining in tight spaces.

Indeed, "Tikus" doesn't have the same knockout power as Mbappé, Olise, Barcola and the like. But we must recognize his fighting spirit and a certain self-sacrifice that pushes him to make the effort to create breaches for his friends. And his intact ability to break through enemy lines as soon as he has a little space.

Without his lack of efficiency which sticks to his boots in selection (2 goals in 31 caps), he could even have turned the counter on a beautiful opening from Olise ( ^15th ) or a cross from Tchouaméni headed in ( ^32nd ). He nevertheless managed to make himself decisive by obtaining a precious penalty while he and his teammates were unable to force the visitors' lock ( ^43rd). ).

Symbolically, while his second half was decent, it was him that the coach chose to sacrifice after Tchouaméni's exclusion to bring in Rabiot to ensure the balance of his team. And it wasn't a choice by default.