VIDEO: Rayan Cherki appears to ignore Didier Deschamps after late cameo in France's World Cup rout of Sweden

Despite the celebratory atmosphere in the French camp following a convincing 3-0 win over Graham Potter's Sweden, footage shared on social media has highlighted a potential rift. Cherki, who has struggled for minutes during the tournament, appeared to distance himself from his team-mates and his head coach after the match.

The footage shows Cherki standing alone in the center of the pitch, waving to the supporters, when Deschamps approached him to acknowledge his contribution. The former Lyon star seemed to brush the manager's hand away, and as Deschamps made a second attempt to engage him, Cherki leaned down to tie his boot, effectively shifting away from the 57-year-old.

Frustration seems to be boiling over for the Manchester City star, who is yet to start a game in North America. Cherki has been limited to cameo appearances, coming off the bench in all four of France's matches so far for a combined total of just 51 minutes of action. Against Sweden, he was introduced alongside Crystal Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta with only five minutes remaining.

The wealth of attacking options at Deschamps' disposal has made it difficult for Cherki to break into the first XI. With Michael Olise shining in the number 10 role and the likes of Bradley Barcola and Desire Doue also competing for places, the creative midfielder has found himself as the odd man out in a squad widely considered the tournament favorites.

While the Cherki incident dominated social media discourse, Deschamps was quick to praise the overall collective spirit of the team during his post-match press conference. He noted the work ethic of his star-studded frontline, saying: "There’s a good connection. When we need to work hard with the ball, everyone is involved, including the forwards. That’s a very good thing. Obviously, it’s something that pleases me, and I’m proud of it. We need to keep it up."

However, the manager did acknowledge that maintaining harmony in such a talented group is a constant challenge. "The team spirit doesn’t win matches, but it can lose them," Deschamps warned. "Players might be disappointed because they’re not playing enough or at all; there might be frustrations, but the collective strength is paramount." France now turns their attention to a round of 16 clash against Paraguay in Philadelphia.