France players sing a song featuring Lionel Messi during a ceremony to celebrate their 2018 World Cup victory at the Stade de France Stadium in St-Denis, France, on September 9, 2018.

Now that France have made it to their second consecutive World Cup final, this time against Argentina, we looked back on the team that won in 2018 and compared the two squads.

Mr. Dubois is an academic who writes about football and politics. I will never forget the joy and solidarity that followed France’s 2018 World Cup victory. I watched in Paris, and when the game ...