For the France team, the draw for the next World Cup in Qatar (November 21-December 18) was almost as predictable as the speech by FIFA President Gianni Infantino calling on leaders to « dialogue » and launch an appeal for “peace and unity” in the world, Friday 1is April, from the gleaming Doha Convention Center in Qatar.
For the Blues, this group B therefore has an air of deja vu and 2018. The reigning world champions will find Denmark as well as a play-off to be designated between Australia, Peru (two countries met in Russia four years earlier) or the more modest United Arab Emirates, an unprecedented opponent for France and whose only participation in a World Cup dates back to 1990 (elimination in the first round).
Tunisia completes this group. The last opposition between the two teams dates back to 2010 with a draw (1-1) in a friendly at Rades. “It will be complicated for us but everything is possiblebelieves the coach of the Eagles of Carthage, Jalel Kadri. France has enormous chances in this group but everything is possible because Tunisia has enough maturity and experience to manage this kind of competition. » Tunisia is playing its sixth World Cup and has never made it past the first round.
On paper, nothing insurmountable. But in 2002 and 2010, France also thought they had had a lucky hand before later leaving the competition in the first round. Didier Deschamps’ players begin their tournament on November 22 against the barrage, before facing the Danes and then crossing the road to Tunisia on November 30. “When we see the other hens, the draw could have been more difficult, admits captain Hugo Lloris on the antenna of RMC. But in a World Cup phase, there are no easy matches. You have to go there with a lot of humility. »
The Danish lucky charm
France has a love affair with Denmark. During their world titles of 1998 and 2018, the Blues had inherited the Danes in the first round. A statement valid for the two victories at the Euro in 1984 and 2000. But there are always exceptions to the rule. In 2002, Roger Lemerre’s team left South Korea after a defeat against the Scandinavians (2-0), the epilogue of a calamitous tournament.
“The Danes, we know them well and we will still get to know them better since we play them twice in the Leagues of Nations in June and September”, Didier Deschamps had fun at the microphone of beIN Sport. The coach immediately recalled the pedigree of the team led by the miraculous Christian Eriksen. “You have to have a lot of respect for them. They are semi-finalists of the last Euro and eleventh in the FIFA rankings ahead of a country like Germany. »
For its part, Qatar inherited a complicated group. The host country will face Ecuador (in the opening match on November 21) then Senegal and the Netherlands. For the rest, the draw awarded very homogeneous hens, with no real group of death. Among the favorites, Brazil will have to be wary in Pool G with Serbia, Switzerland and Cameroon. Group E offers the shock of this first with a Spain-Germany, the winner of the 2010 edition like that of 2014.
Only 29 of the 32 participating countries are currently known, seven months before the start of a tournament accompanied by multiple controversies since its award in 2010. The last three tickets will be awarded on the occasion of the play-offs remaining to be played, two intercontinental and one in Europe after the postponement of Ukraine matches in March. Eight countries are in the running to join the places that have already been allocated to them in the groups.
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