Qatar 2022 Group D Preview: Denmark lurks as France looks to break 'Champions Curse'

France

The defending champions are back at the World Cup after a pretty dominating performance four years ago in Russia. France come to Qatar with a returning manager and a decent amount of returning champions from their victorious campaign. Les Blue will look to break the recent track record of winners and become the first defending champion to make it out of the group stage since Brazil in 2006. 

Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud, and Kylian Mbappe are back in attack for the French, and they are supplemented in attack by the return of Ballon d'Or winter Karim Benzema. Benzema, who has not played in a World Cup since the 2014 edition in France, is a pretty big upgrade at striker over the useful but less goal scoring center-forward in Olivier Giroud. 

The 2018 World Cup dominating midfield of Paul Pogba and N'golo Kante are replaced by the young duo of Aurélien Tchouaméni and Eduardo Camavinga. The two youngsters, who play at Spanish giants Real Madrid together, are expected to play a key role if France are to challenge for the title once again. Yet, unlike in attack and defense, the midfield is littered with inexperience and a lack of depth. 

While Tchouaméni and Camavinga have been key cogs in Madrid's La Liga campaign, they have yet to play at the highest level or on the biggest stage. The lack of depth is also a concern, especially when you look at the depth chart and see Adrian Rabiot as the next man up. 

Didier Deschamps's men should win their group (although the Danes will have something to say about that), and on paper they're as talented as anyone in Qatar, but the true key to going all the way may well lie in the health of both the players and the locker room.

Denmark

Denmark seems to be everyone's pick to be the 'dark horse' candidate at the tournament; which in turn makes them a favorite since everyone is picking them? 

The Danes have been impressive since the last edition, cementing themselves among Europe's best national teams and putting up impressive results consistently, including a semi-final extra time appearance at the Euros.

Copenhagen's squad looked thoroughly impressive in both World Cup qualifying, where they were dominant in their group, as well as in UEFA Nations League action. 

Spearheaded by Manchester United's Christian Eriksen, who may I remind you collapsed just two years ago at the Euros, Denmark seem to be impressive both in individual play but especially as a unit. 

Alongside a rejuvenated Eriksen is Simon Kjær, one of the best defenders in Italy who has quietly become a dominant player in the back and was a key reason why AC Milan won Serie A. Denmark's ability to play fluid football and adjust formations on the go, interchanging between a 3-4-3, 4-3-3, or a 4-2-3-1 system, allows them to match up well against almost any game plan the opposition throws at them. 

If there is one area of concern for the Danes it would likely be in attack. Because while Eriksen can serve the ball up with best of them, it's questionable at best to think Kasper Dolberg or Jesper Lindstrøm will be there to finish it off. Dolberg has not seen much of the pitch at Sevilla this year, while Lindstrøm is a wild card at age 22 despite netting six goals in 13 appearances for Eintracht Frankfurt. Pierre Hojbjerg and Thomas Delaney in midfield should be a good enough support system for Eriksen to pick up some of the offensive load himself, but at some point someone has to score goals if Denmark wants to be a contender for a title and ride this dark horse to the final.

That potential knockout stage run might also depend on their matchup with France. With two victories over the French just in 2022, the Danes will feel like they can definitely challenge for the first place in the group. They better hope so, because finishing second likely means a Round of 16 matchup with Lionel Messi and Argentina.

Tunisia 

A side that almost nobody has pegged to qualify from the Group, Tunisia will be coming to Qatar with absolutely nothing to loose and everything to gain.

Tunisia has had an interesting run of results this World Cup cycle. In their last major tournament, Tunisia lost to Burkina-Faso in the African Cup of Nations quarterfinals in what was a pretty terrible display of football. 

After their shambolic exit in AFCON, they then managed to squeak into Qatar by defeating Mali. Their two legged victory over Mali was not much impressive either, scoring a single goal over the 180 minutes of action. 

On the flip side, Tunisia have tested themselves this year with quality opposition. Despite being defeated candidly by tournament favorite Brazil, Tunisia has managed to pick up victories in friendlies against both Japan and Chile in 2022. Both the loss to Brazil and the victories over Japan and Chile show Tunisia's aggressive offensive style, which can pay off, but also leave them extremely vulnerable as Brazil demonstrated at a hostile Parc de Princes in Paris.  

Tunisia's chances of upsetting in the tournament will likely rely on their midfield's ability to provide some protection to the back four, especially if they decide to continue their aggressive offensive approach against the likes of France and Denmark. 

Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane will be key for their success, as his legs will be incredibly important in linking play in the final third, but also backtracking for cover when they undoubtedly get hit on the counter attack by quality opposition. 

Australia

The Aussies are back but don't expect them to be staying too long. 

Unfortunately for Australia, the simple truth is that there is not enough quality for them to mount a serious challenge in the group. Most of the player group is made up of A-League talent and mid-European league players, including a decent amount who play in Scotland. The Aussies were also pretty unimpressive in qualifying, failing to beat both Japan and Saudi Arabia in group play.

Credit is given where due though, and the Aussies did really battle to get here. 

Australia defeated the UAE in the AFC playoff and then got past Peru on penalties in the intercontinental playoff. The match against Peru was also in Qatar in the middle of the summer, so the Aussies will be at least moderately familiar with their surroundings and should have no trouble with the winter heat after their summer victory over Peru.