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Didier Deschamps could lead France to his third FIFA World Cup this weekend when Les Bleus take on Argentina in Lusail. The 54-year-old was captain back in 1998 for the first triumph on home soil and he was the tactical mastermind behind their 2018 success in Russia.

Another win on Sunday would firmly put Deschamps in the elite management category at international level and move the French to third on the list of all-time winners. The man from Bayonne will have been involved in all of them, but this one would arguably be the least expected.

Pre-Qatar, Deschamps lost star men like Paul Pogba, N'Golo Kante, Karim Benzema, and Presnel Kimpembe to injury as well as emerging talent Christopher Nkunku. Few expected France to do better than a potential quarterfinal appearance, maybe the semifinals if everything broke right, yet they have defied the doubters and look strong.

The French look good on the field and united off it which was not the case before the COVID-delayed UEFA Euro 2020 last year and did not look likely as recently as a few months ago. That they are in this position owes much to Deschamps and his ability to thrive in an international tournament format.

"I think Deschamps is benefiting from the French ecosystem in its entirety," former France international Mikael Silvestre told CBS Sports exclusively. "The quality of players is very impressive -- they play for top clubs at the highest level and win titles. It has been about getting everybody together and embracing that culture. Gone are the players who did not fit Deschamps' philosophy as it is group first before individuals."

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Deschamps has relied upon a core of his 2018 champions including captain Hugo Lloris, Raphael Varane, Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele, Olivier Giroud, and Kylian Mbappe. However, new faces have been added including Adrien Rabiot, Aurelien Tchouameni, Theo Hernandez.

By losing the likes of Pogba, Kante, Benzema, Kimpembe, and Nkunku, Deschamps was forced to embrace the deep array of talented youth available to him. His reward has been this latest impressive World Cup showing which also might have breathed new life into his managerial tenure.

Coming into Qatar, Deschamps was expected to move on after this tournament and potentially hand over the squad to Zinedine Zidane who had seemingly kept himself available for that eventuality. This latest deep run is now expected to keep Deschamps in the post until 2024 which gives him another Euro shot.

Had change not been forced upon the French boss, this World Cup might well have ended in failure and certainly not a second consecutive final with a shot at back-to-back titles. Despite their incredible depth of talent, Les Bleus function better under Deschamps with their backs against the wall.

"He has the formula to be difficult to play against and also beat teams while there are also some good weapons going forward," added Silvestre. "Our strikers can score against anybody. The balance is good but most impressive has been finding that balance in such a short space of time. One week before the tournament and then game after game, we have seen that there is a real group, true spirit, and a will to fight to go all the way."

In many ways, losing the four key figures of Pogba, Kante, Benzema, and Kimpembe -- all players who would have started if available -- gave Deschamps' group something that had been badly missing since 2018: hunger. The players finally had a reason to put all individual concerns aside and pull together as a team. It was the key to success in Russia and it could also be the key in Qatar too.