Umtiti: The French team had to change their style of play after coming to Barcelona. We won the World Cup by relying on defense.

November 16th Umtiti was interviewed recently and talked about France's tactics for winning the World Cup in 2018, as well as his discomfort with the change of style from Barcelona to the national team.

The tactics of Barcelona and France are two completely different worlds. On one side is Luis Enrique's technical, ball-oriented smooth football, and on the other side is Deschamps' defensive pragmatism.

Umtiti said: "When I was first selected for the national team, the coach told me that it is best to deal with the ball directly at Giroud. I had to change the way I played."

Umtiti particularly recalled the semi-final against Belgium, which was won with his header: "We knew the game would be difficult and there would be very little possession of the ball. Hazard couldn't guard it at all, but that game was perfect. The defense Defense is our characteristic."

Regarding Belgium's criticism of the so-called "ugly football," Umtiti responded without hesitation: "We don't care, we are not a possession-oriented team like Spain, but we have players who can solve any situation."

Umtiti revealed that the secret of the French team's success lies in the belief shared by the whole team, giving priority to defense in seven games. He said: "We have Mbappe in front of us, and that's enough. It makes no sense to try to organize the backcourt without adequate preparation. We won the championship like this."