Last night, Denmark was presented with a very well-known World Cup group.
In 2018, they were drawn against France, Australia and Peru, and just the three teams came out of the hat again for 2022.
The only difference is that Australia and Peru along with the United Arab Emirates are fighting for only one seat. The winners of the Asian play-offs will play against the fifth-placed side in South America in a win-take-all match.
The remaining team in the group is Tunisia, the second highest ranked side in Africa.
Good warning for France
A draw is an excellent warning for France. On the two previous occasions, Les Bleus have lifted the trophy, in 1998 and 2018 they met Denmark in the group stage.
However, Denmark has proven to be something of a bogey side for the French also over the years.
They knocked them out of the European Championships in 1992, and in 2002 they hammered the last nail in the coffin for what was France’s first title defense.
But this time they play the Frenchmen number two. First out is Tunisia on November 22, then the French on November 26 and finally the winners of the playoffs on November 30.
Ideal timing for French play
Not much has been done about Qatar’s geographical location, other than that it’s way too hot to host a traditional World Cup in the summer.
But the start times of the tournament clearly confuse the world media, with many websites refraining from publishing the exact kick-off times – whose idea was to hold the draw on Friday night, when most journalists are on edge?
Qatar is currently just one hour ahead of Denmark, but when the World Cup comes, it is two hours ahead.
Denmark must therefore meet Tunisia at 14:00 CET, France at 17:00 and the final match at. 16:00. Saturday at 17.00 the kickoff time is definitely what you should look forward to!
As the tournament progresses, all knockout matches start at either 16:00 or 20:00.
Grudge matches abundantly
Denmark’s group is not the only one with a known line-up from 2018, as Brazil, Switzerland and Serbia have been pulled together.
For the two European teams, it will be a repeat of their famous grudge battle as two ethnic Albanian players imitated the country’s national flags in their celebrations.
Perhaps even tougher will be Ghana vs Uruguay, a repeat of the 2010 World Cup quarter-finals, in which Luis Suarez deliberately played handball to prevent a Ghanaian winner in extra time. Excitingly enough, Suarez will be the only survivor from that game.
Elsewhere, the US has been paired with old opponents Iran and England, while Germany vs Spain appear to be the choice in the group showdown. In this tournament there is no obvious death group.
Source: The Nordic Page
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