It will be the end of Lionel Messi. Cristiano Ronaldo too. It will be the final World Cup for a host of other stars, the curtain call for Granit Xhaka, James Rodriguez, Casemiro, Vozinha - granted few knew who he was until a month ago - and many others.
It will also be the end for another dominant, wily, figure who treads the kind of rarefied air that few have ever trodden. Come July 20th, he may have reached a pinnacle that no one has managed ever before.
Didier Deschamps has already won the World Cup as a player (1998) and a manager (2018), a feat matched only by Franz Beckenbauer and Mario Zagallo. Only the legendary Italian coach Vittorio Pozzo has won the competition twice as head coach (1934 and 1938). If the France boss holds the World Cup trophy aloft on Sunday evening at MetLife Stadium, he will match that accomplishment too and be very much out on his own.
On Tuesday night, when France face Spain in their mouthwatering semi-final, he will lead Les Bleus for the 26th time at a World Cup finals. A new record, set, fittingly, on Bastille Day.
