With the 2022 FIFA World Cup kicking off in 18 days, it’s time to explore the reigning World Cup champions – The Blues of France.
Every day until November 20th, we’ll explore a different team represented in this year’s tournament, from Group A to Group H, including predictions about where they’ll end up.
Yesterday, we looked at Poland, the likely second-place finishers in Group C. Today we’ll look at one of the favorite squads to win the whole damn thing – Mbappe’s France.
France
Group D
Nickname: The Blues, Les Bleus
Colors: Blue, white, red
Location:
Coach: Didier Deschamps (France)
Top Players:
France’s squad is as loaded as they come, even if they do have a significant injury problem at the moment – French stars Paul Pogba of Juventus, Ngolo Kante of Chelsea, and Raphaël Varane of Man U are out due to injury, though Varane might make it back in time. Those three injuries would be enough to knock out most teams, but not France. The French boast Tottenham’s Hugo Lloris in goal. He’s defended by Benjamin Pavard, William Saliba, Jules Koundé, and Ferland Mendy of Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Barcelona, and Real Madrid. Their midfield is an opponent’s nightmare with two Real Madrid youngsters, Eduardo Camavinga and Aurélien Tchouaméni, plus Adrien Rabiot of Juventus. And don’t even get us started on France’s attack – Karim Benzema, Mbappe, Ousmane Dembélé, Olivier Giroud, Griezmann, AND Nkuku?? No wonder the French are one of this year’s favorites.
Team History:
Qatar will mark the 16th World Cup appearance for the reigning champs. They’ve won it twice, first in 1984 and most recently in 2018. Les Bleus are also the reigning UEFA Nations League winners. Perhaps due to injuries, France has been in poor form in 2022, only winning one of their last six Nations League matches.
Tournament Prediction: World Cup runners-up.
Unless their poor Nations League form continues, France has more than enough talent to win every match in the group stage. Denmark has beaten France twice this year, but that makes it seem even more likely that the French will win the third matchup. France will likely defeat Poland in the round of 16 before defeating rivals England in the quarterfinals. We think France meets and beats this World Cup’s Cinderella Uruguay in the semi-finals, followed by a championship loss to Messi’s unstoppable Argentina.
Featured Image: Generated Image: DALL-E 2
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