France 3-1 Denmark: What’s your prediction?
Having lost twice to Denmark recently, France will be taking nothing for granted when they look to secure their qualification for the knockout stages with a game to spare in Group D on Saturday.
The defending champions entered the tournament on the back of a dismal Nations League campaign, during which Denmark beat them 2-1 in Paris and 2-0 in Copenhagen.
Even if the World Cup is another tournament altogether, Les Bleus have a fair idea of the problems Denmark, who back in 2002 struck the final blow in France's terrible campaign with a 2-0 group-stage win, can cause them.
France started the Qatar tournament in style with a 4-1 win against Australia, but Denmark will be a sterner test at the 974 Stadium.
When?
26th November, 10:00 pm, Bangladesh time
Where?
Stadium 974, Ras Abu Aboud, Doha, Qatar.
Head-to-head
Matches 16
France 8
Denmark 6
Draw 2
Lineups
France: (4-2-1-3) Hugo Lloris (capt); Jules Kounde, Raphael Varane, Dayot Upamecano, Theo Hernandez; Aurelien Tchouameni, Adrien Rabiot; Antoine Griezmann; Ousmane Dembele, Olivier Giroud, Kylian Mbappe
Denmark: (3-4-3) Kasper Schmeichel (capt); Joachim Andersen, Andreas Christensen, Victor Nelsson; Rasmus Kristensen, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Christian Eriksen, Joakim Maehle; Jesper Lindstrom, Andreas Cornelius, Mikkel Damsgaard
Prediction: France 3-1 Denmark
Key stats:
* Denmark beat France twice in the recent Nations League campaign, winning 2-1 in Paris and following that up with a 2-0 victory in Copenhagen.
* The French are the current world champions, while Denmark made it to the semi-finals of Euro 2020 despite playmaker Christian Eriksen suffering a heart attack in their first group game against Finland.
* France have won the World Cup twice (1998, 2018), while Denmark's best performance came in France in 1998, where they made the quarter-finals
* French striker Olivier Giroud needs one more goal to become his country's all-time leading top scorer - the 36-year-old is tied with Thierry Henry on 51 goals after netting twice in their opener against Australia.
Previous meetings: The two teams have met 16 times in total, with eight wins for France and six for Denmark.
Following is a statbox on France at the World Cup:
FIFA Ranking: 4 (Oct 6)
Odds: 6-1
Previous tournaments:
France have appeared in 15 World Cups, including the last six. They won their first title in 1998, beating Brazil 3-0 in the final on home soil, and repeated the feat in the last edition in Russia with a 4-2 final victory against Croatia.
How they qualified
France qualified top of Group D with five wins and three draws, two of them against second-placed Ukraine.
They finished their qualifying campaign with three consecutive victories, including an 8-0 demolition of Kazakhstan. They scored 18 goals and conceded three.
Following is a statbox on Denmark at the World Cup.
FIFA Ranking: 10 (Oct. 6)
Odds: 33-1
Previous tournaments:
Denmark made their World Cup debut in Mexico in 1986 but did not appear again until 1998 in France, where they had their best performance by reaching the quarter-finals. Since then they have twice made the last 16 (2002, 2018), going out at the group stage in 2010 and missing the 2006 and 2014 tournaments.
How they qualified: Nine straight wins saw them cruise to victory in Group F, where they finished on 27 points, four ahead of second-placed Scotland. They scored 30 goals and conceded three.
Comments