World Cup Spotlight: Group D
Group D of the World Cup consists of Australia, Denmark, Tunisia, and defending World Cup champions France. The most interesting part of this group will be seeing if France will fall to the same fate as previous World Cup winners. In 2018 Germany became the third defending champion in a row to be knocked out in the Group Stage, and four out of five defending champions have been knocked out in the Group Stage since 2002.
France
France will be looking to repeat as World Cup champions
As previously mentioned, it will be interesting to see if France will make it to the knockout round or if they will fall victim to the curse. Like 2018, on paper, they have one of the strongest teams in the tournament, so making it out of their group should not be a problem. However, the same was said about Germany and Spain after they won the world cup, and we all know what happened to them. Even with the curse in mind, I still think France will have enough to make it out of their group and have a deep run in the World Cup. They have a mix of youth who haven’t played at this stage and experienced players who know what it takes to have a successful World Cup run. I do not think they’ll reach the same heights as the 2018 squad, but a semifinal run is still very achievable.
Australia
Australian National Team celebrates a goal
Australia are a strange team; they don’t have many well-known players but are still a squad that will give teams problems. They have a big physical team with disciplined players who know their roles. I will not be shocked if Australia takes points off France with a stellar defensive performance. However, it’s still a toss-up between Australia and Denmark for who will take second place in Group D. I’m giving the slight edge to Denmark for reasons I’ll explain below.
Denmark
Denmark National Team reacts to Christian Eriksen’s ailment at the 2020 Euro
So why am I giving them the edge? The first and most important reason is that they have more quality and experience. Experience and quality are the most important things to have in a team, and the World Cup only amplifies that. With top midfielders such as Eriksen, Hojbjerg, Wass, and Delaney and a goal threat in Poulsen, Denmark has what it takes to make it out of Group D. The second reason has to do with what happened at Euro 2020 and Christian Eriksen.
For those who are unaware, Eriksen experienced a heart attack in the middle of the match at Euro 2020. He was unconscious and nearly died, but after months of recovery, he is back playing again. After experiencing such a traumatic event, the Denmark team has been brought even closer and will want to fight for each other that much more. That could be what gives them the edge in this group.
Tunisia
Tunisia National Team
Unfortunately for Tunisia, they are not in a very easy group, and an easy group would be the only chance they have of making it to the knockout stage. As I said before, experience and quality are extremely important, and Tunisia lacks that. None of their players play for top clubs, and in the history of the World Cup, they have only ever won two games and never made it out of the group stage. So, unless France dramatically underperforms and Tunisia plays the best football they have ever played, Tunisia will be going home after three games.
