The innocent hand of Robert Pires, raffle officer Thursday in Switzerland, was lenient with his former teammate Didier Deschamps, coach lucky to avoid the big bosses of the continent for the 2022/23 edition.

The result "could have been worse, on paper", but "I have a lot of respect for all nations, including these", weighted the technician to some media, including AFP, gathered in Nice for follow the ceremony performed remotely by UEFA.

Denmark are "a more committed team, on speed, while Croatia are in control of the ball. Austria also has direct play, a lot of athletic density and size too," he added. .

The pool of "death" is in any case not that of the French but rather that of the reigning Italian European champions who will find, in addition to Germany and Hungary, their opponents in the final of the last Euro, England.

Preparation for the World Cup-2022

For the partners of captain Hugo Lloris, the most severe adversity will come from the Danes, ninth in the Fifa rankings and who shone at the European Championship last summer, despite the strong emotion aroused by Christian Eriksen's heart failure.

In addition to the Scandinavians led by Kasper Schmeichel, Simon Kjaer and Kasper Dolberg, France will find Luka Modric's Croatia, a big chunk they have gotten used to swallowing since the World Cup final won 4-2 in the summer of 2018.

Two French victories followed the victorious campaign in Russia, each time in the League of Nations (4-2 in Saint-Denis then 2-1 in Zagreb in 2020).

Former international Robert Pires releases France's ballot in the draw for the League of Nations in Nyon on December 16, 2021 - UEFA / AFP

The Austrian "Petit Poucet" completes the group brought up against each other, first in June (four matches on the program) then in September (two matches).

These clashes will serve as a warm-up for the Blues on the road to the World Cup, scheduled in Qatar from November 21 to December 18, 2022, without any real training camp.

Italy-England reunion

The draw for the League of Nations also gave birth to a "derby" between Belgium and the Netherlands, which have not crossed paths in official competition since the 1998 World Cup in France (0-0).

The two neighbors share the group with Poland and Wales.

The bigger engines will make sparks in Group 3, with England, Italy, Germany and Hungary.

"The group of death? These are just football matches ... Meeting such strong teams is part of the spectacle," responded Italy coach Roberto Mancini.

The "Three Lions" in any case have a score to settle with the "Nazionale" who beat them in the final of the last Euro (1-1 ap, 3-2 at the tabs), at home at Wembley.

The Germans have in mind their elimination in the round of 16 by the English (2-0), as well as the draw against the Hungarians (2-2) which deprived them of the first place in their group.

In Italy, Mancini has experienced a big stir lately, due to the failure to directly qualify the "Squadra Azzura" for the World-2022.

Marco Verratti's teammates will have to go through play-offs in March, with the hypothesis of a "final" to be played against Portugal.

The Italians delighted with their third place in the League of Nations after their success over Belgium in Turin, October 10, 2021 Marco BERTORELLO AFP / Archives

For the "Seleçao" too, this deadline is at the top of the list of objectives.

Then comes the League of Nations, with beautiful posters, against Switzerland, falling for the Blues in the round of 16 of Europe, and against its neighbor Spain.

The last official meeting between the team of Cristiano Ronaldo and that of Alvaro Morata dates back to the 2018 World Cup, a sumptuous 3-3 marked by the hat-trick of "CR7".

© 2021 AFP