Doha, November 29 (QNA) – Tunisia football team cling to slim hopes of reaching the Round of 16 in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 when they face France Wednesday in Education City Stadium, in the final set of matches of Group D, towards the conclusion of the group stage.
The Tunisian national team face a difficult and almost impossible task during in its confrontation with its French rival, a World Cup Champion and a team full of football stars, having gained one point from its goalless draw in its match against Denmark, and suffering a defeat by Australia 0-1.
The Tunisian team remained far from scoring and seemed to lack decisiveness in the final touches, which are aspects that the team must address and go a long way if it wants to beat the French team.
The Tunisian national team’s struggle to score is not really a surprise, given that the team relies primarily on strong defense, keeping a clean sheet in 9 of its last 11 matches. However, it failed to score in 7 of its 14 matches in 2022.
Tunisia ranks fourth in Group D standings with only 1 point, while France tops the group standings with 6 points, followed by Australia in second place with 3 points, and then Denmark in third place with 1 point.
For Tunisia to move to the round of 16, it will have to achieve a victory over France, in exchange for Denmark having a tied match with Australia, after which case Tunisia would have 4 points and so will Denmark, requiring the goal difference to be considered.
On the other hand, if Tunisia loses or has a draw with France, it will exist the World Cup.
The qualification system stipulates that in the event of a tie in the number of points, the goal difference will be used, and if that also results with a tie, “fair play” will be decided, by calculating the yellow and red card points.
Historically, the Tunisian and French national teams met on five previous occasions, both official and friendly, with their first confrontation being in the 1971 Mediterranean Games, ending with Tunisia winning 2-1. As for their second match, it was a friendly match held in Lille in 1978. The French team won it with a clean double.
The Tunisian national football team played a friendly against France on three occasions: the first was after the end of the 2002 FIFA World Cup South Korea/Japan, ending in a 1-1 draw. Then both squads met again at the Stade de France on October 14, 2008, with France winning 3-1. In that match, Thierry Henry scored a double and Karim Benzema scored a single goal, while Issam Jemaa scored Tunisia’s goal.
The final confrontation was in Tunisia on May 30, 2010, at the Hammadi Agrebi Olympic Stadium, where the game ended in a positive draw, with a goal for the same.
The Tunisian national team is participating in the World Cup for the sixth time in its history and the second in a row.
On the other hand, the French national football team is looking forward to strengthening its series of victories having already qualified for the round of 16 after its victory over Australia and Denmark, securing 6 points in Group D, and seeking to maintain its record undefeated when it faces its Tunisian counterpart tomorrow.
The French national team aims to fly high in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and to preserve its World Champion title gained in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia.
French coach Didier Deschamps plans to make several changes to his squad against Tunisia, after qualifying for the second round.
France is participating in the World Cup for the sixteenth and has won the world title twice: the first at the expense of Brazil when France hosted the tournament in the 1998 edition, and the second at the expense of Croatia four years ago in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia.
France played 66 matches in the World Cup finals during its previous fifteen participations, during which it managed to achieve 34 victories, 13 draws and 19 losses, scoring 120 goals and conceding 77 goals.
(QNA)