The world champions crushed Kazakhstan (8-0) on Saturday in an atmosphere of fair, with a resounding quadrupled for Kylian Mbappé, a double for Karim Benzema, the first international goal for Adrien Rabiot and the 42nd for Antoine Griezmann.

However, this is already a new deadline not to be missed.

A poor performance in the Olympic stadium of the Finnish capital, where up to 33,000 spectators are expected, would come a little to thwart the tricolor rebirth of the autumn, symbolized by the coronation of October in the League of Nations and the attractive game proposed. Saturday at the Parc des princes.

"You cannot enter the field on tiptoe, you have to go all the way, without thinking, trying to achieve a good collective performance," said captain Hugo Lloris on Monday, urging his partners to "finish well the calendar year ".

Even if the Blues landed in Helsinki with "peace and serenity", with a qualification without a hitch, "we can not neglect any match", supported Didier Deschamps in the process.

Continuity or rotation?

Before a big cut of four months, the coach wants to take advantage of this trip to Nordic soil to refine his ideas and work on the automatisms of his line of attack.

More than a final qualifying match, the duel against the "Hiboux Grand-Ducs" is already more like a review for the 2022 World Cup, scheduled in a year (November 21 - December 18).

Presentation of the meeting between Finland and France, Tuesday, November 17, 2021 in Helsinki Vincent LEFAI AFP

The coach has certainly announced "some changes" in the starting team (without Lloris being affected by the rotation), but there is no question of overdoing this opposition against the 50th nation in the Fifa ranking which, if it were to keep his second place (11 points) in Group D ahead of Ukraine (9 pts), would play the play-offs in March.

The Blues have the "duty" to aim for victory, because of their "status" as world champions and "to respect the opponent, all opponents", posted the Basque technician.

In this context, Deschamps has to arbitrate between continuity and rotation, between individual desires and collective ambition.

Will he want to see Aurélien Tchouaméni again in the midfield, as in the final of the League of Nations, even if it means placing Adrien Rabiot on the bench?

Will he renew on the right wing Kingsley Coman, excellent Saturday, or will he give Benjamin Pavard some playing time?

Confined to the substitutes' bench, Kurt Zouma hopes to have a chance to show himself, like Lucas Digne or Mattéo Guendouzi, still awaiting a first selection for his fifth international meeting.

"A really huge match"

Finland, for its part, will be determined to bring down the reigning world champions to maintain the hope of playing the first World Cup in its history.

"If we look at the history of football in Finland, it's a really huge match", "a great challenge" that will have to be understood "as a team", said on Monday the Finnish coach Markku Kanerva, winner of the Blues (2 -0) in a friendly last November, but beaten by the same score in Lyon in September during the first leg of qualifying.

Finnish coach Markku Kanerva during a press briefing on the day before the match against the Blues in Lyon, September 6, 2021 FRANCK FIFE AFP / Archives

In its Olympiastadion, the team of Glen Kamara and Teemu Pukki arrives swollen by the success brought back from Bosnia and Herzegovina (3-1) on Saturday, despite the expulsion in the first period of Jukka Raitala, suspended Tuesday.

A draw in front of his home crowd could be enough for him, depending on the result of Bosnia-Ukraine played Tuesday at the same time.

The play-offs will be played in March with two knockout rounds.

At this period, the Blues could for their part play a friendly mini-tournament in Qatar, as a foretaste of the World-2022.

© 2021 AFP