The World Cup play-offs take centre stage this weekend and with number of former greats on the brink of failure thoughts have naturally turned to what has gone wrong for some of international football's established countries.

France won the World Cup in 1998, and the European Championships in 2000, but now find themselves with a tough Ireland side standing between them and a place at South Africa 2010. Just what has gone wrong for Les Blues?

The Guardian's Amy Lawrence claims their current plight stems from a lack of young stars coming off their once famed conveyor belt of talent.

"Aimé Jacquet, the coach who guided France to World Cup triumph in 1998 and later went on to oversee the national technical department, which was for a while the envy of football, had a nice turn of phrase about player development. "Tomorrow's football" he called it.

A decade on and the conveyor belt of talent looks a little rusty. Who was the last outstanding graduate from the French system? Probably Franck Ribéry. But he is 26 years old. Below him the system is not functioning quite as effortlessly as it once did. In the aftermath of the 1998-2000 generation, France were highly successful in junior football. In 2001 they won the Under-17 World Cup and scouts from the world's top clubs scrambled for the signatures of la crème de la crème. Florent Sinama-Pongolle was player of the tournament. Anthony Le Tallec was runner-up for the award.

Liverpool – through the French connections of Gérard Houllier – won the race and bought two teenagers who looked certainties to become established players at Anfield. Today both are 25. Sinama-Pongolle is a peripheral player at struggling Atlético Madrid, Le Tallec is at Le Mans."