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Sometimes you suspect a team have peaked too soon.
Brazil, for instance. They won the Confederations Cup last summer with a swagger that has been largely absent from their World Cup displays thus far.
And France? The question arises because, although they hit their current rich vein only after qualifying through a play-off, it’s my main worry about Didier Deschamps’s side as they head for a quarter-final against Germany.
On the basis of what we’ve seen, I’d rate France a better bet to take the trophy back to Europe than Germany or, for that matter, Louis van Gaal’s much-lauded Dutch.
France have excellent players in every position, from Hugo Lloris in goal to the emergent Antoine Griezmann on the left flank. There’s good back-up in most areas and Deschamps has been able to keep them fresher than most because relatively undemanding group opponents were subdued early, allowing rotation.
The French also have an esprit de corps that appears second to none; the Germans don’t have that edge on them any more. But teams who win World Cups don’t always flow from the start and France were flowing even before they came: eight goals in their first two matches came as no surprise to those who had watched them rattle in as many in their concluding friendly against Jamaica.
Even so, France do appear equipped to go all the way. They could certainly be carried past Germany by the tournament’s leading midfield, a superb combination of skill and workrate in which Paul Pogba, against Nigeria, somehow contrived to stand out.
World Cup 2014: Our favourite pictures
What a signing Pogba would be for his former club Manchester United. If there has been a better all-round midfield display in this tournament, I’ve yet to see it. Even Bastian Schweinsteiger wasn’t in the same class before the German limped off against Algeria. Only in the head, I think, can France lose.
