France will be hoping to secure their spot in the round of 16 as the reigning champs take on Denmark on matchday two of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Les Bleus come into this contest having recorded a resounding 4-1 win over Australia, while Denmark were frustrated during a scoreless stalemate against Tunisia.
Les Bleus did concede an early goal, but it appeared to indeed awaken Didier Deschamps's squad from their slumber as they came roaring back to score four goals sans reply. Olivier Giroud's brace now sees the 36-year-old pull level with Thierry Henry on the all-time top goal-scorers list for France, and one will certainly not be betting against the AC Milan man from surpassing that record at some point in this competition.
Meanwhile, Denmark's World Cup campaign has so far failed to ignite as they were unable to find a way past a very determined Tunisia side. It was a disappointing result for Kasper Hjulmand's side, who some have pitted as potential dark horses, but they may be taking some hope from the fact that there are still two games to go, meaning that the Scandinavian side still do have a real shot at getting out of their group. At the moment, however, the Rød-Hvide will have it all to do, despite beating France twice in the Nations League especially given how insipid their attack looked against Tunisia on matchday one.
Although Christian Eriksen, who was making his first major tournament appearance for his country since suffering a cardiac arrest during EURO 2020 last summer, had a solid match, Denmark overall failed to reach the heights many had expected of this side and will need to obviously put on a better show if they hope to become the first side to beat France three times in consecutive meetings in one calendar year.
Denmark have managed to do well defensively, with three clean sheets in their last four games across all competitions, and they will need to pull off another defensive masterclass if they want to keep France's attack at bay and make amends for their disappointing showing on matchday one.
Team news: France vs Denmark
France: France's injury woes continue to pile up as it's been revealed that Lucas Hernandez's World Cup is now over after tearing his ACL during his team's win over Australia. In addition, Kingsley Coman missed out on training on Friday due to a hip injury, but the Bayern Munich man still remains with the squad.
Denmark: Thomas Delaney has been ruled out for the rest of the tournament after suffering a knee injury against Tunisia, but otherwise, Denmark have a full-strength squad available.
Match facts: France vs Denmark
- France are hoping to become the first side since Spain to win six World Cup matches in a row
- France and Denmark will be meeting for the fourth time at a World Cup…
- …interestingly, in two of their prior meetings with the Scandinavian side (1998 and 2018), Les Bleus went on to win the title
- However, Denmark beat France both home and away in their UEFA Nations League meetings and are hoping to win a third in a row
- To date, no team has beaten France three consecutive times in one calendar year
- Denmark are facing the reigning World Cup champions for the third time; to date, they have lost one (3-2 vs. Brazil in the 1998 quarter-finals) and won one (2-0 vs. France in the 2002 group stages)
- France are the first reigning champions to win their opening World Cup match since Brazil did so in 2006 after beating Australia 4-1
- Didier Deschamps's side are hoping to become the first team to score at least four goals in three consecutive World Cup games since 1954
- Olivier Giroud could become France's all-time top goal-scorer if he can score again during this World Cup
- Denmark have drawn their last four World Cup matches, including a scoreless stalemate against Morocco on matchday one
Broadcast info: France vs Denmark
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Match details, result and original broadcast info
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