Putting the controversy to bed once and for all, we have ... http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/soccer/wires/12/02/2080.ap.soc.wcup.draw.us.1041/ I find that second "never" - intended for emphasis - particularly convincing.
Are you sure it's not just a double negative? Therefore the meaning of the sentence is "There was a question of the France-Ireland game in the discussion."
You may disagree with the premise, but I think leg_breaker's point was that they slept-walked through the group stage - drawing the Swiss and the Koreans before beating powerhouse Togo. Their 16/QF/SF run is no doubt impressive (Spain/Brazil/Portugal), but it did indeed occur in about one week's time (27 Jun, 1 Jul, 5 Jul = 9 days).