Stephen A. Smith is one of the biggest names in sports media. Give him the NBA, NFL, boxing, or a debate about LeBron James versus Michael Jordan, and he’ll have an opinion ready before you finish the question.
But every four years when the World Cup rolls around, soccer fans are reminded of one thing:
Stephen A. Smith does not know ball.
During a recent discussion on ESPN’s First Take, Smith wondered whether France could “finally get it done” and win the World Cup.
Finally get it done?
Did someone forget to tell Stephen A. that France already won the World Cup in 2018?
The French didn’t just win it either. They rolled through the tournament and defeated Croatia 4-2 in the final behind a young superstar named Kylian Mbappé.
Maybe Smith forgot because that was only eight years ago.
And if that wasn’t enough, France also reached the 2022 World Cup Final. They went toe-to-toe with Lionel Messi’s Argentina in arguably the greatest World Cup match ever played before falling in a penalty shootout.
So let’s review:
- World Cup champions in 2018.
- World Cup finalists in 2022.
- One penalty shootout away from winning back-to-back World Cups.
Yet somehow they’re still trying to “finally get it done.”
By that logic, the Kansas City Chiefs are still trying to finally win a Super Bowl.
The funny thing is that France doesn’t need a redemption story. They are the standard. Along with Argentina, they’ve been the most successful national team of the past decade.
With Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise, William Saliba, Aurélien Tchouaméni, and Eduardo Camavinga, France entered the 2026 World Cup as one of the favorites to lift the trophy once again.
The real question isn’t whether France can finally win one.
The real question is whether they can add another star above the crest and continue building one of the greatest international eras the sport has ever seen.
As for Stephen A., soccer fans everywhere are once again asking the same question they’ve asked for years:
“Did he watch the last two World Cups?”
Maybe next time ESPN should let Roger Bennett handle the football analysis while Stephen A. sticks to what he knows best: yelling about the Knicks, Cowboys, and Lakers.
Because when it comes to France’s World Cup history, this take deserves a red card.
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