Gauthier Delomez 06:00, November 18, 2022

On the road to the France team at the World Cup in Qatar stand Australia, Denmark and Tunisia in Group D. A group very similar to that of the Russian World Cup, where the Blues had beaten the Australians before to draw with the Danes.

Europe 1 offers an overview of the opponents of the French during the group stage.

It's a kind of remake of 

Back to the future

that the Blues are about to play.

Placed in group D of the World Cup in Qatar, the French team, defending champions, once again challenges Australia and Denmark in the group stage, as in 2018. Tunisia takes on the role of Peru in this ex-group C which brought luck to the selection of Didier Deschamps in Russia (two wins, one draw).

Europe 1 takes an overview of the three opponents of the Blues in a crucial preliminary phase for the rest of the competition.

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Australia, a difficult team to maneuver

In this Qatari epic, the Blues first cross paths with the Australians on November 22 (8 p.m., Paris time) for the first match of the competition, like four years ago.

An opponent without really great benchmarks in world football, but who had given the players of Didier Deschamps a hard time.

Antoine Griezmann's partners got away with it (2-1) thanks to a penalty from number 7 of the Blues, then a successful goal from Paul Pogba who responded to a penalty converted earlier by the "Socceroos".

Ranked 39th in Fifa rank, the Australian team does not have any star players in its workforce.

Mathew Leckie, their current top scorer with 13 goals in 73 caps, plays in the local championship, in Melbourne City.

In 2018, the selection had failed to get out of its group.

The Australians, who are playing in their seventh World Cup finals, achieved their best performance in 2006 when they reached the round of 16, thanks in particular to their emblematic player, Tim Cahill.

The Socceroos also have four successes in the Oceania Cup and an Asian Cup in 2015. Two competitions far from European standards.

Denmark, the most feared team for the Blues

This is the toughest team that Kylian Mbappé and his partners will face in this group stage.

Denmark has an appointment with France on November 26 (5 p.m., Paris time).

A team that the Blues had also faced at the 2018 World Cup, in a third group match without stake which ended in a sad 0-0.

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Eliminated by Croatia, future finalists, in the round of 16, Denmark, 10th in the Fifa rankings, has grown in strength in recent years and even reached the semi-finals of Euro 2020 (defeat against England 2-1 ap).

A European course marked by the heart discomfort of the Danish star Christian Eriksen when they entered the running.

Today, the attacking midfielder of Manchester United is back on the lawns, and his impact on the field will be to watch on the side of the selection of Didier Deschamps.

Especially since Denmark remains on two prestigious victories against the Blues, in the League of Nations, in June (2-1 at the Stade de France) and last September (2-0 in Copenhagen).

The meeting against the Danes, winners of Euro 1992, will therefore be decisive in this group D.

Tunisia, an unprecedented poster in a World Cup

For the France team, the group stage ends with an unprecedented poster in a World Cup, against Tunisia, on November 30 (4 p.m., Paris time).

Led by its Ligue 1 players and in particular Montpellier's Wahbi Khazri, the Tunisian selection is in 30th place in the Fifa rankings.

Paradoxically, France and Tunisia have faced each other very little in the past.

In three matches played since the early 2000s, the Blues have won one game for two draws.

After two failures to participate in the World Cup, the Tunisians had managed to qualify for the Russian edition of 2018. The Carthage Eagles had failed to reach the round of 16 despite their victory against Panama (2 -1), due to their defeats against England (2-1) and Belgium (5-2).

In their history, the Tunisians, winners of the African Cup of Nations in 2004, have never managed to get out of their group during a World Cup.

They will hope to achieve the feat this year.

The Blues have been warned.