Is it possible to win the World Cup with a flawed manager? In fairness to France, they made a very decent attempt in 2006. But for Zinedine Zidane's extraordinary bull-charge during the final against Italy, things might have ended up very differently for Raymond Domenech. At the end of that emotive night in Berlin, the French manager stood alone on the pitch and watched the triumphant Italians cavorting with the trophy. The rest of the French squad had drifted away but he could not take his eyes away from the scene of World Cup nirvana. He appeared transfixed.

Against most reasonable logic, Domenech is still at the helm to have another go in South Africa. The past four seasons have seen his team, and his stock, decline. During this week's friendly against Spain, the message from the stands to the dugout was stark: "Domenech démission!" Domenech quit! Not exactly the perfect gee-up in what was their last match at Stade de France before the World Cup. A more general expression of local optimism was the sound of ironic "olés" when their opponents sashayed and swept the ball around sweetly. "There's nothing to worry about," tutted Domenech later, to a room full of worried journalists.

Given the bizarre nature of their qualification, aided as it was by the Thierry Henry handball against Ireland, there would be a dripping irony were France to stick it up to the critics and have a fine World Cup. The current champions, Italy, arrived at the last tournament caught in the maelstrom of the corruption scandal that engulfed Serie A. They used all the brickbats, all the accusations, all the distaste, to make them stronger, and in the end worthy victors.

But there are several good reasons why France, despite their pedigree, look ill-equipped to offer a reprise of Italy's redemption story. The squad has weaknesses, notably at centre-half (Julien Escudé, Jean Alain Boumsong, say no more). Against a team as comfortable and confident as Spain there was also trouble up front, where one observer in Paris described the Henry-Nicolas Anelka-Franck Ribéry axis as "three lost divas". They also don't have a Zidane, and do have a Domenech who becomes even more intransigent the longer he stays in the job. An inspirer, a guide, a leader, a Marcello Lippi, he is not.

On the pitch, it was not a happy evening for France against a Spanish team who looked light years ahead. Henry said they were "untouchable – from a different planet". The Barcelona forward contributed to this directly, giving the ball away needlessly to enable David Villa to score on the break. France's captain was booed. And the worst thing about it? The jeers had nothing to do with a handball. Nothing to do with gadding about with a team-mate's ex-girlfriend. It was just about playing like a drain. Without much regular football for his club he feels like he has concrete in his boots, confessing he had "absolutely no pace".

France have now overtaken Argentina in the floundering favourites stakes. Diego Maradona's team, after a dismal qualification campaign, pulled themselves together to convincingly beat Germany in Munich. Are things beginning to take shape? Like France, they have struggled to make a whole from the sum of their parts under idiosyncratic management. But Maradona was bullish after a matchwinner from Gonzalo Higuaín – a player he originally shunned – earned a midweek win he reckoned required the character of a World Cup quarter-final.

"Maybe the press in Argentina won't like it, but we are going to play a very good World Cup in South Africa," he enthused. "What we showed is that we have a team who can become world champions for the first time after 24 years. We've said that we're here and we're ready to put up a fight. This result was important because it showed the Argentine public that we have a great team. We got it wrong against Brazil, Ecuador and in La Paz [their defeats in qualification], but we've always had the players."

Maradona is not wrong about having the players. This result was achieved without Diego Milito and Carlos Tevez, among the most productive strikers in Serie A and the Premier League, left out of the starting line-up. There is still considerable room for polishing the squad, and the fireball coach still has to prove he can eke the best out of Lionel Messi, among other things.

But it is hard to escape the feeling that the biggest risk to Maradona's positive World Cup predictions is himself. As well as the question of whether the team can evolve, is the issue of whether they can live with such a combustible and unpredictable manager while shut away in their camp for a month or more.

France managed to nearly win the World Cup last time because a group of the senior players, led by Zidane, took control of the situation. Whether any of Argentina's players are able to rein in the madness of Maradona remains to be seen. But it will be fun watching.