Defending champions France, already in the play-offs, were defeated 0-1 by Tunisia on Wednesday after nine changes in their starting line-up, but the African side were eliminated from the tournament and Australia ended Group D. They entered the last 16 with a win Denmark. 1:0 in the next match of the Football World Cup.
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Defending champions France, already in the play-offs, were defeated 0-1 by Tunisia on Wednesday after nine changes in their starting line-up, but the African team was eliminated from the tournament and Australia ended Group D. They beat Denmark in the other match. 1–0 and were among the last 16. World No. 30 Tunisia dominated France for most of the day at Doha's Education City stadium when captain Wahbi Hadjri scored the team's first goal of the current tournament in the 58th minute.
This defeat may not have affected the position of France in the group, but it certainly embarrasses them. Antoine Griezmann scored for France in the eighth minute of injury time, but was caught offside and the goal was disallowed. On the other hand, at the Al Zainab Stadium in Al Wakrah, Australia knocked out world No. 10 Denmark from the group stage with a strike by Matthew Lecky in the 60th minute. Lecky's goal was the highlight of the match between Australia and Denmark.
Lecky received a pass around the middle of the field and single-handedly continued to break through the Danish defense. He struck with his left foot close to the opponent's goal, and Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel was unable to return the ball despite jumping to the left.
This is only the third Football World Cup victory for Tunisia, playing in the FIFA World Cup for the sixth time, and during this time the team has never been able to reach the playoffs. His first win was over Mexico in 1978 and his second win was over Panama in Russia four years earlier. It was only Australia's fourth win in 19 World Cup matches, but it also saw the team qualify for the play-offs for the second time since 2006.
France topped Group D with six points in two wins in three matches despite losing to Tunisia. Australia also has six points after two wins in three matches, but the French team is ahead of them by a goal difference of plus three. Australia's goal difference was minus one.
Tunisia finished their campaign in third place with four points from three matches, one win, one draw and one loss, while Denmark reached the semi-finals of the European Championship with one point from three matches, one draw and two losses. Disappointing performance, finished last. France will now play the second-placed team in Group C, while Australia will play the best players in Group C in the quarter-finals on 4 December.
Defending champions France have never won all three-group stage matches since their first Football World Cup win in 1998. They won all three-group stage matches in 1998 and went on to claim the title. The current coach Didier Deschamps was the team captain at the time. Given the performance of both teams so far, France was a strong contender to win, but in the current tournament, Kylian Mbappe, who scored three goals, and Olivier Giroud, who scored two goals, also did not include Antoine Griezmann. in the starting XI.
Tunisia started the match aggressively and put pressure on the French defense from the start. Nine changes in the starting line-up affected France's performance. Tunisia seemed to sense early on the weakness of the French line of defense and did its best to exploit it. Tunisia scored in the eighth minute, but got offside. Tunisia was awarded a free-kick after a foul on Ben Romadhani Ali, on which captain Wahbi Khazri delivered a brilliant kick.
Hajri’s free kick was headed by Nadir Gandari, but he was offside and the goal was not counted. France made a good move in the 25th minute. Yusuf Fofana passed in the box to Kingsley Coman, but his shot on goal was too weak and wrong.
In the 34th minute, Hajri saved a long-range shot that went between Aurélien Chaumani and French captain Raphael Varane, but his shot was saved by goalkeeper Steve Mandanda. Tunisia also made a great move in the 42nd minute. Ennis Saliman tossed the ball to Khazri, but the skipper failed to pass the cross to Elias Skerry in front of the net when he shot from the right.
In the second half, the Tunisians also continued to attack. The team took advantage in the 58th minute when a mistake by Fofana sent the ball to Skerry, who passed to Hadjri, while Hadjri single-handedly took a long clearance and shot past three defenders, scoring with a fiery shot.
Taking the lead, Tunisia played defensively as a win in this match would have knocked them out if Australia and Denmark had drawn. A Danish win would have left Tunisia with a chance of a knockout. Meanwhile, France replaced Ousmane Dembele, Griezmann and Mbappe. For more know about France vs Poland Tickets.
The trio played attacking football using Tunisia's defensive play but failed to score. Mbappe had a chance to score in the 89th minute, but goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen prevented his sharp shot. A minute later, Randle Kolo Muani's shot went wide of the right keeper. Gundry fouled Mbappe in the second minute of injury time, giving France a free-kick from outside the box, but Mbappe was unable to take advantage of it. In the eighth minute of injury time, Griezmann took advantage of the chaos at the gate and scored a goal, but offside.
The seven tendencies Lionel Messi displayed in Argentina's win over Poland
Vanity was simple before Argentina's final group game against Poland: what if you just watched one player for 90 minutes? And this player, one of the undisputed GOATs, may very well be playing his last game at the Football World Cup. So, with pen and notepad in hand, I did something I've never done before: I recorded every moment of one guy on the field.
Argentina beat Poland 2-0, which means it won't be Lionel Messi's last Football World Cup appearance. You will see him again, maybe once, maybe twice, three or even four times in Doha. And yes, there is a chance – never say never – that it will appear in 2026, although it will turn 36 this summer.
Despite the fact that you've watched Messi over the past two decades – perhaps more than 500 times on TV and at least 100 times in person – when you focus on him and nothing else, you also notice things you don't otherwise see. like getting confirmation of things, you suspected.
1. Messi walks around most of the match
It's the nature of the game to walk when the ball is not near you, but Messi does it more often than most. We knew this, Bobby Gardiner's seminal analysis of Messi's run through the 2018 Football World Cup is a terrific read. However, when you look only at him – which can really only be done in person – it's absolutely amazing how detached he seems from everything else.
He does not follow the runners, he can put his foot out if there is an opponent nearby, but basically, he just walks around. Sometimes he looks in the general direction of the ball; sometimes it doesn't. You tend to think it's energy saving – a 35-year-old man, after all – and walking means you can conserve energy when you need to run. But Messi, especially at the level of the national team, has been doing this for a long time.
2. Messi has two other speeds: the seldom-used trot and the rarer-style sprint
The trot is what he uses when he needs to get from point A to point B quickly, usually to avoid an offside position or take a set piece. The sprint begins when the ball is in the possession of someone, he knows can deliver it to him, or when he needs to get a defender out of position. It's not something we see often, but when it does, it can be devastating.
I counted four cases, there may have been more. He rushed to the far post to win a header (and a generous penalty, which he then conceded). He was out as soon as Wojciech Szczesny parried Julian Alvarez's shot, as if he knew Alvarez would return the ball and cross. On other occasions, he hit the ball over a defender to the flank and flew into space, confident that he would get a return cross (sometimes he did, sometimes he didn’t).
3. Most of Messi's dribbling runs are generally all the same
I mean, the vast majority of the time he gets the ball either on the spot or at a trot and then either stops before taking off again or turns around in space. He is fast with the ball at his feet, which seems counterintuitive, and he is constantly fighting with opponents.
He doesn't seem to mind losing the ball, which happened quite often with Poland, perhaps because he gives the ball away in places where it won't hurt Argentina (and perhaps because his teammates are adjusting to the possibility). Whether he loses it or defeats three or four opponents, the effect is the same: the opposing defenders converge on him, any defensive form that was in place is now deformed, meaning holes are created elsewhere.
4. Messi's passing party trick is extremely tough to defend
There is the classic Messi pass from the center position, which, like Garrinci's dribbling, opponents know but simply cannot stop. He receives the ball down the middle, fakes a dribbling, and then turns his body to uncork a curved pass with his left foot that paces across the defensive line and takes up left wing position. Marcos Acuna has been the beneficiary of this transfer on three different occasions, but perhaps the most stunning version of the transfer was the one that caught Alvarez at the end of the game.
Once Messi gets the ball there, it's a classic triple threat. He can dribble and foul, he can touch and shoot, or he can pass to the left. You can't really secure the transmission because you have to be aware of the other options, which can be said to be the “least bad”.
5. Messi spends 90% of the game in the same two areas
One is about a third of the way between the “D” at the top of the opponent's penalty area and the center circle, the other is on the right, right inside the opponent's half of the pitch. In the first case, the result is almost always a shot, the aforementioned pass or dribbling those results in a foul or shot (or, with good defense, a loss). When it's last, at least in this game, it was basically one of two things: a simple break, as if to say, No, not feeling it, you go ahead, or classic dribbling, usually from right to left. Again, you know what will happen.
6. Even when Messi doesn't get the ball, he wreaks all sorts of havoc as a decoy
His very presence is devastating, because if you are an opposing player, you know very well who he is and what he can do. When he's not on top of the D, centre-backs wonder where he's gone. And when he appears on the right, the left side of the opposing team has to think about overloading.
7. All of the above are obvious Messi patterns, but then he'll break them without warning
It seems to lull you into a sense of security. Take a header that resulted in a missed penalty. You don't expect to see Messi at the far post challenging a 6-foot-4 goaltender like Szczesny in the air. Or the first goal of Argentina: the game developed on the right flank, the cross was on the right, and Messi was almost at the left flank. Or two other times when he picked up the ball deep in his own half, from his centre-backs.
And there are times when he forgets his age – and tricks his body into forgetting. Look at the counter-attack in which he received the ball in his own half and rushed with it to the opponent's half of the field, half a dozen Polish players closed around him like a white cloud, and Messi, who flew out of him and shot on goal. He was blocked, however.
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