Group C: France, Australia, Peru, Denmark
France enters this group as one of the strong pre-tournament favorites but this group could throw in a few surprises if they are not careful. There could be a real clash of styles.
The winner of this group will play the runner up in Group D. The runner up in this group will play the winner of Group D
France: Name a more talent-rich team
To say France is a team brimming with individual quality and talent is a massive understatement. Even a third-choice selection (i.e. players who wouldn’t have even made a preliminary squad) could probably be highly competitive. The likes of Anthony Martial, Kingsley Coman (injured), Adrien Rabiot, Alexandre Lacazette, Laurent Koscielny (injured), Leyvin Kurzawa, etc. didn’t even make the stand-by list. Dimitri Payet and Kingsley Coman were perhaps one of the few who could have made the squad if it weren’t for an awful injury in the Europa League final.
With heavy competition for places and a litany of talented forwards, midfielders, and central defenders to choose from, the margins for selection were quite slim for Didier Deschamps. He has his obvious favorites, but largely made rational selections; a far cry from the days of Raymond Domenech as manager who would often times pick players based on their astrological sign…
Deschamps has evolved the team a little from the 4-2-3-1 that they utilized during the Euros into a 4-3-3 to presumably get more out of Paul Pogba (a familiar problem that perplexes his club manager). But the midfield balance has the potential to be incredible. N’Golo Kante is an obvious choice for his ability to sweep up behind and play simple passes to start attacks, Paul Pogba for his ability to maneuver his way out of trouble, and a third depending on the type of situation. To break down a team parking the bus, Deschamps could play Thomas Lemar as a number 10; for added ball-retention, he could play Cameron Tolisso; and for more of a physical defensive presence, Stephen N’Zonzi could fit the bill.
The rub of course is how do you get such a talented team to play together and we turn to qualifying. France topped their qualification group and managed to bully a lot of the lower sides. Their lone defeat was to Sweden 2-1 away from home, but they conceded just 6 goals in 10 games. That was the only game they conceded multiple goals. They avenged the first defeat with a 2-1 win at home in a highly dominant display with goals from Pogba and Payet (who will not be going). Not to mention, they eviscerated the Netherlands over two games (4-0 at home, 1-0 away). That being said, they weren’t quite as impressive or dominant during qualifying as Portugal or Spain were.
Sheer talent alone would dictate that they should be heavy favorites to win the group. But they could come unstuck under the right circumstances.
Australia – Some familiarity but too many unknowns
Australia in many ways has taken to soccer/football much like America has. After years in the wilderness, they have now qualified for 4 World Cups in a row dating back to 2006 where Guus Hiddink had Australia getting results against more fancied opponents with an innovative 3-6-1 formation.
Since then though, their World Cup success has been a little shortcoming but they’ve managed to put in some thrilling performances. They rarely get absolutely torn apart in the competition but the lack of quality relative to other sides eventually causes problems.
In contrast to France, there aren’t many household names, but players like Aaron Mooy, Matthew Ryan (former Valencia keeper), and Mile Jedinak might be familiar to Premier League fans. Robbie Kruse plies his trade with VfL Bochum but has just 5 goals in 62 appearances for his country. Long time favorite Tim Cahill will be at the World Cup despite his age, but with 50 goals in 102 appearances, he still appears good enough to make the squad.
In qualifying, Australia skated through by the skin of their teeth however as they finished third in their AFC group behind Japan and Saudi Arabia. This led to them having to win a two-legged playoff against a horrible to watch Honduras side 3-1 on aggregate who had managed to edge past the US in CONCACAF qualifying.
Such nervy moments led to a parting of ways with long time coach Ange Postecoglou. Taking his place instead was former Saudi Arabia’s coach Bert van Marwijk, with whom they had topped the same AFC group. van Marwijk had previous experience getting the Netherlands to a World Cup final back in 2010 as well. How Australia would adapt to van Marwijk’s playing style is somewhat of an unknown but their recent 4-1 thrashing to Norway in a friendly wasn’t too promising.
Simply being competitive might be all that Australia should realistically hope for. This is a side that while it has some quality would need a bit of an innovative system and some lucky bounces their way to make a real difference.
Peru – Entertainingly high-variance
For the first time since 1982, Peru will be at the World Cup, but they have had sparse success historically. Their best finish was a semifinal “group stage” appearance in 1978 where they suspiciously lost by enough goals to allow Argentina to progress to the final against the Netherlands.
In modern times though, Peru has been very competitive in Copa America play. They play at altitude which frequently gives them a fitness advantage but technically they appeared limited until this cycle. Trying to sift through and analyze Peru’s results (looking through Conmebol’s match reports) yields some particularly fascinating insights for Peru.
They were a rather high variance side in qualifying but played a rather open game. This led to a very mixed 7 wins 5 draws, 6 defeats record. They only kept 2 clean sheets; one against Paraguay who finished rock bottom, and an incredibly fortunate 0-0 against Argentina where keeper Pedro Gallese made at least 5 incredible saves video below). But on the flip side they have proven to be potent as seen by this 2-2 draw below against Argentina.
But one of the biggest blows for Peru is that their top scorer Paolo Guerrero will be suspended for the World Cup barring a successful appeal. While he maintains his innocence, it is unclear whether he would get cleared in time. Without him, Ricardo Gareca has a major headache on his hands trying to figure out where his goals come from. Luis Advincula might be an interesting right back.
Denmark – Familiar names, questionable cohesion
Denmark has been a bit of a yoyo team when it comes to the World Cup. Since 2002, they have alternated between making and missing the tournament and their best finish occurred at the 1998 tournament where they made the quarterfinals. Their only major international honor is a 1992 European Championship.
In any case, followers of the Premier League or some previous World Cups may recognize a few familiar names. Christian Eriksen is perhaps the most recognizable and easily Denmark’s best player as he scored 11 of their 25 goals in qualifying including their two-legged playoff win over Ireland where he notched a hat trick.
Players like Kasper Schmeichel and Andreas Christiansen will also be recognizable as well. Viktor Fischer had a brief interlude at Middlesbrough before their relegation in 2017, and Nicklas Bendtner might be very familiar for Arsenal fans from way back in the day. Bendtner’s ego was comparable to Zlatan’s when he was a young player and it made him all the more amusing, partially because Bendtner didn’t seem as tongue-in-cheek about it as Zlatan normally is. But on the flip side there were a lot of players who could have been more promising but didn’t quite pan out. Viktor Fischer and Andreas Cornelius come to mind in that department. Thomas Delaney was the next highest scorer with 4 goals behind Eriksen’s 11.
A familiar theme with a lot of the European teams who have qualified is that it’s somewhat hard to gauge who is good and who might get found out at the tournament. Denmark got through with a thumping 4-0 win over group winners Poland but lost 3-2 away and curiously lost 1-0 at home to Montenegro. While they triumphed 5-1 on aggregate against the Republic of Ireland, they were held to a 0-0 at home. Denmark is a perfect example of a team that could blow hot or cold but if they blow hot, it’s likely going to be because of Eriksen who operates as a free-roaming number 10.
Final analysis
As I stated above I think France should win this group as they are a better team top to bottom than the others, and while Australia might be competitive, I cannot see them causing any major shocks.
Denmark vs. Peru will likely be the decisive factor in this group. While Denmark have a player like Christian Eriksen who can change a match instantly, Peru have faced stiffer competition through qualifying and may be more prepared. Without Paolo Guerrero to lead the line for Peru though, Denmark would have to be favored to progress.
The Quilted Shorts Chameleon 