A disarming level of conviction ripples through the side, as if they have been coached in sporting confidence by Prince Naseem on Prozac. The combined effect of an entire squad reciting the mantra that they are here to win the Mondial has an almost brainwashing effect. Surely they can't all be wrong? In interviews, one player after another outlines the team's ebullient, ultimate, ambition, and there is something in the way they look you straight in the eye that tellsyou it is neither platitudes nor posturing. They are simply motivated and exhilarated by it all, and they believe.

This feeling is spreading around France. One of their most learned supporters, ArsŠne Wenger, has great expectations. "I rate this team's chances of winning the World Cup the highest of any team in the tournament. They have a chance because they play at home and they have quality players," enthuses the manager who knows all about masterminding French football revolutions. For someone who is not prone to getting carried away, he couldn't offer his compatriots more fulsome backing. "We are in a position in France where we have two teams who have a chance to win it," he says.

Jacquet's favoured few are in the right place at the right time. After a disappointing Euro '96, where a pedestrian France side were berated for their lack of brio, two years of experimenting with team selection and preparing the players' mental approach has come together like a souffl‚ risen to perfection just in time fordessert.

`Made in France' now seems to be a label for quality footballers, and the mass export of their finest since Euro '96 has been crucial to the team's transformation. Consider how much Zinedine Zidane has refined his game at Juventus, or Youri Djorkaeff and Lilian Thuram at Inter and Parma respectively; Christian Karambeu at Real Madrid, Emanuel Petit and Patrick Vieira at Arsenal.

The major pre-tournament doubt about France prior to the tournament concerned goals. Nine in the first three matches answers back in some style, although harsher critics undermine high scores against South Africa and Saudi Arabia. God knows what France could achieve with a Batistuta, Shearer or Vieri up front.

Will the lack of a renowned predator cost them dear in the knockout stages? Wenger disagrees. "I think they can become world champions without that. The team need to improve their efficiency; they haven't taken some good chances, and against better teams that could be dangerous. But they have some experiencedgoalscorers like Djorkaeff and Guivarc'H we did, and the youth can make a difference as well."

Which brings us to the outstanding Henry, with three goals already from the right flank, who was given his debut by Wenger at Monaco. "He was tremendous when he was a young player in France, which is why I gave him his chance when he was 17," Wenger recalls.

Arsenal's young midfielder Patrick Vieira explains how the older players guide the rookies: "They talk to us all the time, which helps us learn and helps the spirit to be strong. That's very important when you want to win the World Cup." As he speaks, Desailly saunters past and smiles at his young colleague, handing him his bottle of Coca-Cola to finish off.

Liberty, fraternity, equality is an appropriate motto for this team. Freedom to express themselves, brotherhood binding them together, and equality in that every player can do his bit. One and all they ooze a buzz of being part of a movement which is gathering momentum. And the fact that Zidane, theirgifted playmaker, completed his two-match ban yesterday after France edged out Paraguay on a `golden goal', when it might have been Spain or Nigeria, adds to the feeling that luck is with them.

Now, almost his entire squad has had a taste of the action, feels important, and the potential for petty jealousies and controversies sometimes found brewing in other nations not a million miles away from France is obliterated.