France - Tunisia: The army waits for the 1/8 round
A series of injuries to the pillars and the "curse of the defending champion" mentioned a lot before the tournament could not make it difficult for France, at least during the 2022 World Cup group stage.
Deschamps' teachers and students were even the first team to win tickets to the next round of 1/8, after respectively defeating Australia 4-1 and Denmark 2-1. France thus became the first defending champion to qualify for the group stage since Brazil 2006. The three previous champions, including Italy 2006, Spain 2010 and Germany 2014 all fell before this "curse" at the World Cup. next.
"The fact that France is early to the round of 16 shows that sometimes what the media reports don't turn out to be true," Kinglsey Coman said after the win over Denmark. Meanwhile, Deschamps shared jokingly: "Soon, I will have to thank everyone who told me about it. They will probably fall back after today's results."
"Les Bleus" also overcame the curse of injury that had followed them both before the tournament and until the World Cup started. Paul Pogba, N'Golo Kante, Christopher Nkunku, Karim Benzema and Lucas Hernandez have problems in turn. They even received positive signals when Raphael Varane returned in the match against Denmark, and Benzema is likely to re-appear if France goes deep.
After two matches, Deschamps also found the best frame. Hugo Lloris is sure to start, with Varane, Dayot Upamecano and Ibrahima Konate competing for two central positions. Jules Kounde played well when replacing Benjamin Pavard in the match against Denmark, while Theo Hernandez was sure to be on the left wing after his brother Lucas Hernandez was out for a long time due to a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
In the middle of the field, Adrien Rabiot proved his leadership qualities when combined with 22-year-old midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni. In attack, Ousmane Dembele, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe or Olivier Giroud all played well. In particular, Giroud scored twice in the opening match against Australia to match Thierry Henry's record for most goals for France (51 goals). Mbappe is even more impressive when leading the list of top scorers with three goals, thereby catching up with the record of most goals scored at the World Cup before the age of 24 of "Football King" Pele.
France is even more likely to be at the top with now six points, three points ahead of Australia and an outstanding goal difference (+4 vs -2). Therefore, today's match against Tunisia is an opportunity for Deschamps to test backup personnel options. In particular, Matteo Guendouzi, William Saliba, Eduardo Camavinga or Kolo Muani are likely to have the first minutes of play at the 2022 World Cup.
Even when playing with the reserve team, France - currently ranked 4th on the FIFA rankings - is still appreciated much more than Tunisia, the team ranked 30th. Confrontation history also favors France, when they won. 2, drawn 2 through four encounters with Tunisia.
If they hold the top of Group D, France will face the second team of Group C - where Poland, Argentina, Saudi Arabia and Mexico all have a chance to continue - in the round of 16. The last round of Group D also took place before Group C. Therefore, France did not have the opportunity to "pick" an opponent.
