After winning their first group match, Group D leaders France get to take on Denmark. The French can cash a ticket to the next round if they win this match as well. For the Danes, they need to win if they still want to have a good chance of reaching the knockout stage. It is the most exciting duel of this pool. Who will walk away with a win? In this preview, you can read the latest team news, the bookmakers’ favourites and, finally, we give you a betting tip with accompanying odds.
France – Latest Team News & Statistics
For France, the World Cup started on a fine note. The reigning world champions played in the first match against Australia. Despite a difficult start, in which Australia led 0-1 to everyone’s surprise, Les Bleus managed to win the game. Thanks to goals from Olivier Giroud, Kylian Mbappé and Adrien Rabiot, the match ended in a 4-1 victory.
Thanks to a strong victory, France currently leads Group D of the World Cup. The other countries in the group failed to win their first match. This means that with a second win, the French could already qualify for the eighth final.
Despite Tuesday’s French party night, there is still a jet black edge to it for defender Lucas Hernández. Ahead of the game’s opening goal, he was injured. Hernández was unable to continue the match. After examination, it appears he has a severe cruciate ligament injury, forcing the left-back to draw a line in his World Cup. Against Australia, Hernández was replaced by his twin brother Theo.
Denmark – Latest Team News & Statistics
For Denmark, the World Cup has not started as hoped. After France, Denmark is the second favourite to advance from Group D, so the result of the first match against Tunisia was disappointing.
The match against Tunisia went fairly evenly. In the first half, Denmark had a lot of ball possession, but the best chances were for the opponent. The Danes therefore trailed 0-1, but it turned out to be offside. In the second half, the Danes managed to increase the pressure. There were more and better goal attempts. Finally, Andreas Skov Olsen scored a goal, but his goal was also disallowed due to offside. The best chance was for substitute Andreas Cornelius. The striker did not get his head right against the ball, miraculously keeping it out of the goal via the post. The match ended in 0-0.
For coach Kasper Hjulmand, the unnecessary points loss is not the only problem. Denmark will not be able to call on Thomas Delaney for the rest of the World Cup. The midfielder was taken off the pitch with a knee injury on Tuesday. In the match, he was replaced by Mikkel Damsgaard.
France – Denmark previous encounters
France and Denmark have met seventeen times before on the football pitch. For the very first encounter, we go back to the 1908 Summer Olympics. Denmark won then by a monster score of 17-1. It is the Danish team’s biggest ever victory.
Three times before, the countries met at a World Cup. At the 1998 World Cup, 2002 and again in 2018, France and Denmark played each other in the group stage. This time, that is the case again. At the 2018 World Cup, the teams played to a 0-0 draw. France finished first of Group C, Denmark qualified second for the knock0out phase. For Denmark, the adventure ended in the eighth finals, where Croatia proved too strong after penalties. France managed to qualify for the final. Unlike Denmark, the French then did manage to win against Croatia.
The most recent encounters were in the Nations League this year. There, France did not manage to achieve a very good performance. Both encounters were won by the Danes (2-0 and 2-1).
France – Denmark: Betting Tip & Odds
France managed to win the first match convincingly. Denmark bit down on a tough Tunisia. An important match for both teams. A win means an important step towards the next round for both teams. Among bookmakers, the reigning world champion is the big favourite. After a good start, we think the French are in better shape, so our betting tip is: France wins. The odds against this at NetBet are 5/6.
- Tip: France wins
- Odds: 5/6 at bookmaker NetBet
- Risk assessment: medium
- Recommended stake: 6/10