2022 FIFA World Cup: France vs Denmark — Preview, Team News, Kickoff Time, Probable XI, TV Channels to watch and more

Unquestionably the strongest team in Group D, France are on track to reach the round of 16 stage as they sit top of the group with three points, and even though Les Bleus are missing the services of some of their crucial players, their absence is not felt in the tournament considering the number of world class players present in the French squad, they shouldn't even negotiate to move to the next phase of the World Cup as they are expected to do it in grand style tonight as they nick-it-down against Denmark at the Stadium 974 this (Saturday) evening.

The reigning world champions were necessarily seen as this year's World Cup favorite coming into the mundial, especially, even though their star man Karim Benzima was ruled out after tearing a muscle in his left thigh, also they were dealt with several injury blows before arriving in Qatar, with N’Golo Kante, Paul Pogba and then Christopher Nkunku were all ruled out. But through one game, Les Blues have certainly looked like one of the best teams in Qatar, having notched in four goals en route to commanding victory over Australia.


The only Scandinavian team in the tournament - Denmark played a scoreless draw against Tunisia in their opener, but the Red and Whites will have an uphill task to make it out of the group ahead of second-placed Australia. Not only will they likely need a convincing result against France, they’ll need Tunisia to try to pull off an upset against the French and try to get a win or a draw of their own.


While France’s attack has soared in Qatar, there are more questions surrounding their defence heading into their second group-stage match as the backline allowed Australia to break the deadlock before they climbed up from behind to pour in four goals.


TEAM NEWS

Deschamps Les Bleus trained without Kingsley Coman in Friday's training session due to a hip issue, but Raphael Varane was passed fit for a place on the bench with Dayot Upamecano and Ibrahima Konate might pair in the heart of defense.

On the other hand, Denmark's Sevilla midfielder Thomas Delaney came off with a knee injury at half time against Tunisia and has also been forced to withdraw from the mundial as he prepares for a long-month recovery period.

Gaffer, Kasper Hjulmand otherwise has no fresh concerns for tonight's game and should consider dropping Eriksen into a deeper role alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg following Delaney's injury, allowing either Jesper Lindstrom or Mikkel Damsgaard to join the attack.

Andreas Cornelius produced one of the worst misses in World Cup history after, somehow, hitting the post from a yard out against Tunisia, and the 29-year-old should only be considered for a substitute role here alongside the injury-plagued Yussuf Poulsen.


PROBABLE XI

France:
Lloris; Kounde, Varane, Upamecano, T. Hernandez; Camavinga, Rabiot, Dembele, Griezmann, Mbappe, Thuram

Denmark:
Schmeichel; Andersen, Christensen, Kjaer; Kristensen, Hojbjerg, Eriksen, Maehle; Skov Olsen, Dolberg, Damsgaard


MATCH OFFICIALS

Center Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)

Assistant 1: Pawel Sokolnicki (Poland)

Assistant 2: Tomasz Listkiewicz (Poland)

Fourth Official: Ning Ma  (China)


CHANNEL: SuperSport, Fox Sports


KICKOFF: 16:00 GMT (4:00pm)


By: Pascal Nii Gogo Amoah