It seems strange to claim that a World Cup victory could have had more of a negative effect than a positive on a footballing nation, particularly one that then went on to win the European championship immediately afterwards...
bleacherreport.com
France’s triumph on home soil was seen as a miraculous feat, a snatching of victory from the jaws of defeat.
Les Bleus approached the tournament with little hope of winning the thing, indeed it was feared by the press in particular that the team would embarrass themselves as hosts.
Aime Jacquet was under fire and an encouraging performance at Euro 96 was the only thing keeping him in a job. There had even been calls for him to resign from the position after the team’s farcical third-placed showing at
Le Tournoi in 1997, a warm-up tournament for the follow year’s World Cup involving France, England, Italy and Brazil.
In fact, Jacquet had only got the senior job by default in the first place. Having been Gerard Houllier’s assistant as national team coach, he was in the right place at the right time. Jacquet stepped in to replace Houllier as an interim when he was moved sideways after a disastrous qualifying campaign for the 1994 World Cup.
The team responded under Jacquet, having failed to reach the showpiece event held in the United States of America, and he was appointed on a permanent basis. Being made full-time coach, he was able to make some of the tough decisions that French football had needed to make for some time.
France's national team was in dire need of a complete overhaul. Jacquet switched the focus of the team from the likes of Eric Cantona, David Ginola and Jean-Pierre Papin to the new generation of talent being led by the likes of Zinedine Zidane.