between drunkenness and frustration, the French supporters went through all the emotions
THE STORY – Penalty shootout trumped general enthusiasm.
They believed it to the end. “Come on Blues, it’s not over!”At 8 Rue de La Boétie the supporter shoutse The Paris region and France secured a 2-2 draw. “Long live France!”Garches students who ran to the brasserie-bar to see some footage of the match were delighted. It’s in remonta with our values and colors!”
On the Champs-Elysées, Mamadou tries to sell his blue-white-red flags at the metro exit. One euro, then 50 cents. But nobody wants ithe is irritated, angry. The people are waiting for victory.” At the entrance to Galeries Lafayette, the guards breathe: “It’s a little difficult not being able to watch the game. But we watch anyway: we count the goals with the cries and horns of the supporters. But at 18:50 silence fell: after the anthology match, the French team finally lost to Argentina.
This match was without a doubt one of the most beautiful matches I have ever seen in my life and I watch many… But maybe all this makes this final even more brutal.
Louis, supporter of the French team
“Messi killed us!”, angry Nice supporter, angry. Quentin, disappointed like all Blues supporters, remains a good player despite everything: “We deserved this World Cup, but it doesn’t matter, we will come back stronger in 2026 and really win.” Still, avenue Nice, Jean-Médecin, some supporters have tears streaming down their cheeks. Not the defeat, but the tear gas used by the police to disperse the crowd.
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After tearing open a container, the men in tracksuits help themselves to the glass bottles they intend to use against the police.smoke them!” The situation is also tense in the Bellecour square in Lyon: fireworks and firecrackers are thrown into the air by masked demonstrators. Police respond with tear gas. At the same time, several fireworks light up the Nantes sky. The noise rises as Mbappe scores his first penalty in Marseille’s Old Port. To watch the match, supporters gathered in front of the windows of the Queen Victoria bar, shouting slogans Marseille Islands. On the striker’s second goal, less than two minutes later, the atmosphere ignited in the streets with fireworks and honking horns.
In the third, in extra time, the city of OM even shouted the name of a PSG player. But shots on goal gained general enthusiasm. “They played very well, the French team didn’t deserve it. Penalties are always a bit like Russian roulette. 44-year-old engineer Laurent Bergerot comments. In Bordeaux, Anthony confesses “intense hatred” at the end of the meeting: “We have a young team without enough experience to go through 90 minutes” she admits, the French flag on her shoulders and blue-white-and-red makeup on her cheeks.
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Guillaume wore Griezmann’s jersey with his family in Saint-Malo and his two sons, aged 6 and 8, chose Giroud’s jersey for their first World Cup. The little ones cried in their rooms, refusing to see the cup handed over. “I’m very disappointed, but I’m happy that the Blues reacted and shook us, especially Mbappeconsoles this football fan, Stade Rennes supporter. They still managed a good World Cup. But Messi deserves to win it.”
Louis, born in 1990, feels “It was a privilege to grow up in a time when the French team was almost always on top, with first family memories in 1998 and 2000, and then their incredible journeys in 2006, 2016 and 2018.”. This evening, his eyes are filled with tears, he has no strength to go out with his friends: “Football is a legacy for me and I’m used to living these big matches with my father, talking on the phone for a long time before the match to ease our tension and at the end of 90 minuteshe says. But now I don’t have the strength to call – and he obviously doesn’t! Two small consolations: first we have Mbappe – which is no longer a surprise – an absolute phenomenon. Then this match was without a doubt one of the best matches I’ve ever seen in my life and I watch a lot of them… But maybe all that makes this final even more brutal. Go ahead tomorrow!”
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In Paris, on the streets of the Oberkampf district, Argentine fans are celebrating the 3rd world championship with solemnity. Blues supporters set off some firecrackers on the Place de Bastille to take the frustration out. Several thousand people braved the drizzling rain on the Champs-Elysées, the usual meeting place for football celebrations. “Since 1995, we have deliberately come to the Champions to experience this matchthe student, whose cheeks are red from the cold, wrapped in the French flag, laments. Now we will have a drink to forget.” Most shops lowered the curtain, anticipating what might happen. At the Yves Saint Laurent store in the evening, the police caused the movement of the crowd.
Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, in the light rain, CRS dares to smile while looking at his cell phone: “I don’t care about football at allhe explains. I just had until 4am if they won. Then I can go home.” A little further on, the caretaker closes the shutters: “Whether they win or lose, we don’t want to worry: we’re going to bed.”
