On Tuesday night, France and Australia clash in Group D of the World Cup as the holders look to make a winning start to their title defence.
France form guideDidier Deschamps's team travels to Qatar as reigning world champions following their triumph in Russia in 2018. The 2022 World Cup will be Les Bleus' 16th, and they have lifted the trophy on two occasions in 1998, as well as last time out.
Despite being reigning champions, France’s recent form has been poor. They head into this clash on the back of just one win in their previous six games. That run includes suffering defeats against Croatia and Denmark in their last three internationals.
France will be without the likes of Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante through injury, as well as forward Christopher Nkunku. Teammate Eduardo Camavinga injured the latter during a training session.
Australia form guideThe Socceroos' finished third place in the Asian qualifying group. They needed a penalty shootout victory over Peru in the inter-continent play-off to seal their place in World Cup 2022.
The play-off win means that Australia has now qualified for every World Cup tournament since 2006. Qatar 2022 will be their sixth World Cup, and the furthest they have gone in a World Cup was in 2006 in Germany, when they made it to the last 16 of the competition.
Graham Arnold’s team will head into the competition in confident mood, as they are unbeaten in five international matches. A 2-0 win over neighbours New Zealand last time out saw Australia keep their third straight clean sheet.
What am I backing?Reigning Champions France are not going into the World Cup in great form. However, Les Bleus have some quality players within their squad, and I expect them to beat Australia.
