Football’s biggest party is just around the corner as the World Cup 2022 is set to commence this November where 32 nations battle for the recognition of being the sport’s best team.
Here at SBOTOP, we’ve already previewed Group A, B, and C, so today we’re going look into Group D and examine how the four teams here made it to the biggest stage.
Reigning champions France are headlining the group alongside Denmark, Tunisia, and Australia. Remarkably, Group D will see a repeat for three nations who were bunched in the same group just like before as France, Denmark, and Australia were all once part of Group C.
In 2018, France and Denmark advanced to the next phase while Australia finished last. Tunisia, like Australia, didn’t make it either as they were third in Group G behind Belgium and England.
France
France qualified for the World Cup after topping Group D in the European qualifiers. In the eight group stage matches, Les Bleus never lost a game with five wins and three draws.
When the qualifiers started, France were also competing in Euro 2020 and in the 2021 UEFA Nations League where they had a mixed bag of results.
In Euro 2020, they went to as far as the Round of 16 but they eventually lost to Switzerland via penalties after a 3-3 draw in full time. Meanwhile, they won the most recent UEFA Nations League by beating Spain in the final.
Fast forward to today, France aren’t in their best form as they’re currently last in Group A1 of the ongoing UEFA Nations League since they’ve yet to win a single match after four tries.
But despite their poor stretch lately, the World Cup 2022 odds see Les Bleus as a force to be reckoned with given their abundance of talent from all sides of the pitch.
Their front three of Karim Benzema, Kylian Mbappe, and Christopher Nkunku in particular will definitely strike fear to opposing defences since they’re capable of producing plenty World Cup 2022 highlights in Qatar.
Denmark
Denmark will aim to continuously build on their remarkable showing in Euro 2020 here at the World Cup.
The Danes’ campaign had a horrific start in the European showpiece when Christian Eriksen had a cardiac arrest in their opening day loss to Finland, but they powered through his absence and made it to the final four where they fell short to eventual runners-up England.
Following their success in Euro 2020, Denmark were dominant in Group F of the European qualifiers as they’ve won nine out of their 10 group stage matches and right now they’re also doing well in the UEFA Nations League, leading Group A1 with nine points after the first four games.
Kasper Hjulmand’s side has been doing it by committee and he has an intriguing core of youngsters and veterans, with the fully recovered Christian Eriksen leading the way alongside the likes of Joakim Maehle, Andreas Christensen, Kasper Schmeichel, Mikkel Damsgaard, and Jonas Wind.
Tunisia
Make it back-to-back World Cup appearances for Tunisia and their sixth overall, and they’ll be looking to impress in Group D. They were successful in the CAF qualifiers since they finished on top Group B with four wins, one loss, and one draw.
The Carthage Eagles are embarking on a new era as Jalel Kadri is taking over at the coaching helm, replacing Mondher Kebaier after falling short of their expectations when they only went to as far as the quarter-finals during the AFCON earlier this year.
Tunisia’s preparations ahead of November have been going well as they’ve recently won the Kirin Cup, beating Chile and Japan with an aggregate tally of 5-0.
No one from Group D should take this team for granted given their weapons, namely Wahbi Khazri from Saint-Etienne, and youngsters Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane from ES Tunis and Hannibal Mejbri from Manchester United.
Australia
After a strong start to their qualifying campaign, the Socceroos’ automatic qualification disappeared as they tailed off with losses to Japan and Saudi Arabia and they had to earn their Qatar berth the hard way.
Australia had to overcome UAE in a separate Asian qualifying play-off to meet Peru in a single-elimination intercontinental play-off barely a week later.
The Socceroos held their nerve against Los Incas to beat them 5-4 on penalties after going 0-0 in full time, thanks to Andrew Redmayne’s heroics.
This will be Australia’s fifth consecutive World Cup appearance and they’re aiming to progress through the Round of 16 for the first time since 2006.
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