The defending world champions, France, have already secured a place in the last 16 ahead of their final Group D game against African side Tunisia at the Education City Stadium on Wednesday.
However, this could be the last game for the Carthage Eagles, who need a maximum point to make it out of the group alongside Les Bleus.
Tunisia sit bottom of the standings as they still wait for their first goal of the 2022 edition.
After holding Denmark to a draw, many thought Tunisia would get a result against Tunisia only to come short against their opponent.
Now they are on the brink of an early exit from the globe’s biggest footballing tournament as the Socceroos have leapfrogged them into the second position.
Meanwhile, Denmark also can qualify with a win against Australia. Their quest is better than that of Tunisia on paper.
Suppose the result goes in favour of Australia against Denmark. In that case, Jalel Kadri’s side will still be eliminated even if they l stun the world champions and secure all three points on Wednesday.
Thus, anything less than a victory for the Socceroos will open the door for Tunisia to pounce.
For Tunisia to first secure a win against the world champions, they must keep with the theme of defensive resilience in the lead-up to the World Cup.
They came into this tournament with seven clean sheets from eight games before Qatar. But now, Tunisia are yet to score a goal in their last two games but only conceded one. They are one of just two teams year to score a goal at the correct end after two matches – the other being Mexico.
Scoring their first goal at the Mundial against France could give them the confidence that could spur them to victory.
Since they have never gone through an entire World Cup campaign without scoring before, Tunisia will want to score. This is provided they are ready to throw everything at France that may slightly take their foot off the gas with qualification already in the bag.
Having become the first side to confirm their place in the last 16 of the 2022 World Cup, France continues to overcome a myriad of injury problems and pre-tournament struggles, especially on results to get the defense of their crown off to an ideal start.
Australia will have to win by a seven-goal margin to dislodge France from the top of the table. Give or take, France is likely to finish group winners here.
Since the match against Tunisia could lol like a formality, France may play for a point that is needed to main their position on the log.
Being likely the group winners mean France could enjoy a more favourable last-16 tie.
Let’s see how the action will go today.
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