The current world champion, France, crowned in Russia 2018, debuts this Tuesday at 16:00 (Argentina time) against Australia, in a match corresponding to Group D.
The match, which will be broadcast by Public TV and DirecTV, will be played at Al Janoub Stadium in the city of Al Wakrah, and will be refereed by South African Víctor Miguel de Freitas Gomes.
History shows that they have met four times at the World Cup, with two wins for the Europeans, one draw and one win for the Australians. On June 16, 2018, at the World Cup in Russia, it was a 2-1 victory in favor of the French team.
France arrive punished by injuries since, with the loss of Karim Benzema -he suffered a tear-, they were then joined by those of Kanté, Pogba, Kimpembe and Nkunku; and he could not play behind the wheel of Real Madrid, Eduardo Camavinga.
In any case, it has one of the main figures of the World Cup, Kilian Mbappé, who together with Lionel Messi and Neymar are part of PSG’s offensive trident, and who has been one of the fundamental weapons of the team to get the 2018 World Cup in Russia, when he scored 4 goals, one of which in the final 4-2 win against Croatia.
Didier Deschamps’ team arrives at this World Cup in search of the “Bi” that only Italy obtained in 1934-38 and Brazil in 1958-62, but with the fear that the last world champions Italy (2010), Spain (2014 ) and Germany (2018) were eliminated in the first round.
France will play against Denmark in their second appearance, next Saturday at 13:00, and will close the initial phase on Wednesday the 30th at 12:00 against Tunisia.
For their part, Australia also suffered a blow to their squad after their main striker Martin Boyle was sidelined with a knee injury, forcing manager Graham Arnold to replace him with Marco Tilio.
Australia comes to this game with two victories in the preparatory matches against New Zealand for 2-0 and 1-0, after having accessed the World Cup in the playoffs where they eliminated Ricardo Gareca’s Peru on penalties after drawing the match goalless series.
Australia will play against Tunisia on Saturday and against Denmark on Wednesday 30 in search of passage to the round of 16 for the second time in history: the previous one dates back to 2006 and lost against Italy in the round of 16.
=Possible formations=
France: Hugo Lloris, Benjamín Pavard, Rafael Varane or Díaotchanculle Upamecano, Brahima Konaté and Lucas Hernández; Aurelien Tchouameni, Adrien Rabiot; Ousmane Dembélé, Antoine Griezmann, Killian Mbappé and Olivier Giroud. DT: Didier Deschamps
Australia: Matthew Ryan; Aziz Behich, Kye Rowles, Bailey Wright, Nathaniel Atkinson; Jackson Irvine, Aaron Mooy, Ajdin Hrustic; Craig Goodwin, Mathew Leckie and Mitchell Duke. DT: Graham Arnold.
Hours: 16.00
TV: Public TV and DirecTV
Referee: Víctor Miguel de Freitas Gomes (South Africa)
Stadium: Al Janoub Stadium.
Source: Clarin
Jason Root is the go-to source for sports coverage at News Rebeat. With a passion for athletics and an in-depth knowledge of the latest sports trends, Jason provides comprehensive and engaging analysis of the world of sports.