MANAGER: Didier Deschamps
The 53-year-old has seen it all in international management having been in charge of Les Bleus since 2012. He has scaled the heights of World Cup glory before and will be confident of defending their title with a squad littered with stars at his disposal.
France went into Euro 2020 as world champions but Deschamps and his tactics came in for huge criticism when they were stunned by Switzerland on penalties in the last 16. He managed to keep his job but you’d think it will be curtains if they don’t reach at least the semifinals in Qatar.
FIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH
Hugo Lloris | Position: Goalkeeper | Age: 35
• Deschamps confirmed that the Tottenham shot-stopper will continue to be Les Bleus’ last line of defence at Qatar 2022 and possibly beyond.
• With 139 caps to his name, the vastly experienced Lloris is poised to surpass Lilian Thuram’s 142-game tally and become France’s most-capped player.
• The reliable keeper lifted the World Cup crown in 2018 and is the epitome of consistency.
Raphael Varane | Position: Centreback | Age: 29
• Following a dazzling decade at the heart of the Real Madrid defence, he endured a tough debut season at Manchester United – dogged by injuries to his groin, foot and thigh.
• The assured start he has made to the current campaign offers everyone in the France camp plenty of reason for optimism.
• Deschamps still considers him to be the main man in Les Bleus’ backline and the Lille-born centreback still has much to offer.
N’Golo Kante | Position: Midfielder | Age: 31
• The Chelsea man lined up just 26 times in the Premier League.
• The tireless holding midfielder has featured in fewer than half of France’s games being blighted by injuries to his knee, ankle and groin over the past three seasons, contracting Covid twice and recently suffering a hamstring injury.
• Kante remains a key cog in Les Bleus’ engine room.
Kylian Mbappe | Position: Forward | Age: 23
• The Bondy-born attacking ace is a difference-maker on a consistent basis for Les Bleus since the 2018 showpiece in Russia.
• Mbappe is set to play a pivotal role in Deschamps’ side in Qatar.
• He has already earned 57 caps and seems certain to send all of the national-team records tumbling, including the all-time leading scorer tally, which is currently held by Thierry Henry (51 goals).
Karim Benzema | Position: Striker | Age: 34
• The Real Madrid hitman is a firm contender to follow in the footsteps of a certain Zinedine Zidane.
• Benzema has established himself as a key figure for Les Bleus, notching an impressive ten goals since his return to the national team set-up at EURO 2020 to bring his tally to 37.
• Deschamps will be looking to Benzema to fire his side to victory at Qatar 2022.
MANAGER: Graham Arnold
A stalwart of the Australian game, the former Sydney FC coach returned for a second stint in the top job in March 2018, having led the national team for a year after Guus Hiddink stepped down following the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
He succeeded Dutchman Bert van Marwijk, who took the reins for the 2018 World Cup in Russia as part of a short-term deal struck in the wake of Ange Postecoglou’s shock resignation after securing the team’s qualification.
Replaced as head coach by another Dutchman in Pim Verbeek in 2007, Arnold remained on board as an assistant through Australia’s next World Cup qualification phase and their appearance at the 2010 finals in South Africa.
FIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH
Martin Boyle | Position: Forward | Age: 29
• Passed over for selection by Scotland, this Aberdeen-born attacker has spent the last few years showing his native just what they’re missing.
• Boyle, who is married to Scotland women’s international Rachael Small, had never even been to Australia before being selected by the Socceroos.
• Once in the green-and-gold, he made an instant impression, scoring two goals and laying on another in his first start to upstage Tim Cahill on the Aussie legend’s 108th and final international appearance.
• Boyle has continued to impress in the time since, contributing goals and assists and stretching opponents’ defences with his blistering pace.
Ajdin Hrustic | Position: Attacking midfielder | Age: 26
• Hrustic is without rival as Australia’s most creative midfielder. • Elegant and confident on the ball, his ability to both score and create established the Verona playmaker as the breakout star of the Socceroos’ Qatar 2022 qualifying campaign.
• Teammates have been quick to acknowledge as much, with winger Matt Leckie lauding Hrustic’s ability to “at any time of the game, pick a pass or do something special”.
Awer Mabil | Position: Winger | Age: 26
• Mabil’s mere presence at this World Cup is inspiring.
• A young man who was born in a Kenyan refugee camp after his parents fled conflict in Sudan, and who survived as a child on one meal a day, playing barefoot with a rolled-up sock as his football.
• The skills learned in those awful conditions shone brightly when Australia took in Mabil’s family in 2006. His rise since has been the stuff of fairy tales.
• This talented, elusive winger has contributed a great deal more than that coolly dispatched penalty since making an emotional debut in 2018.
• He will be one of the players relied upon to provide the attacking inspiration that Arnold’s team will need against some of the world’s top sides.
Aaron Mooy | Position: Midfielder | Age: 31
• A midfield mainstay for much of the past decade, Mooy’s continued importance was reinforced during those World Cup playoffs.
• Having not played a competitive game in four months, with his only preparation some individual sessions with Australia’s former strength and conditioning coach.
• Arnold is also hopeful that a switch from Shanghai to Scotland, where Mooy is now playing under former Australia coach Ange Postecoglou at Celtic, will be crucial to ensuring that he arrives in peak condition.
Mat Ryan | Position: Goalkeeper | Age: 30
• Matt ‘Grey Wiggle’ Ryan will be back on the bench for the World Cup as the team’s captain and the most-capped player of the current generation.
• His height (he stands at just 6ft) has often been raised as a potential weakness, Ryan is a tremendous shot-stopper and outstanding with the ball at his feet.
• His place for Australia should be assured either way, with Arnold having lauded him as “a fantastic goalkeeper”.
MANAGER: Kasper Hjulmand
It felt like the Danes’ inspirational coach became the unofficial leader of the country last year when Christian Eriksen suffered his shocking cardiac arrest in their Euro 2020 clash with Finland.
Hjulmand led with such authority and strength during that horrific period and then had the ability to dust his team down and lead them to the semifinals on a wave of emotion – where they lost to England by a controversial penalty.
Few teams strode through FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifying with the ease and confidence of Denmark. When they became just the second team, besides the hosts, to seal a place at this year’s global finals, Kasper Hjulmand’s impressive side had yet to drop a point – or even concede a goal.
FIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH
Christian Eriksen | Position: Midfielder | Age: 30
• For five horrendous minutes last June, Christian Eriksen was – in his own words – “gone from this world”. At that stage, anything beyond his survival would have seemed like too much to hope and pray for.
• He was back playing Premier League football within nine months and, in March – 287 days after his cardiac arrest – he made his international comeback, scoring inside two minutes of entering the field.
• The midfielder has swapped Brentford for Manchester United, and is once again pulling the midfield strings for both club and country.
• Eriksen was described as being “definitely one of the top ten [players in the world]” by then coach Age Hareide ahead of the last World Cup, and his vision, range of passing and ability in set-piece situations continue to make him Denmark’s key creator.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg | Position: Midfielder | Age: 27
• Hojbjerg operates from box to box, breaking up opposition attacks and driving Denmark forward.
• Hjulmand has described him as “contributing a lot, both offensively and defensively”, and the likes of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte – managers who have made him a midfield lynchpin at Tottenham Hotspur – fully agree.
Simon Kjaer | Position: Centreback | Age: 33
• Denmark’s captain, their most experienced player and is fast closing in on Peter Schmeichel’s national appearance record of 129.
• British newspaper The Guardian named Kjaer its ‘Footballer of 2021’ and why he received the UEFA President’s Award and finished 18th in the Ballon d’Or voting.
• Denmark’s captain had stepped up at the moment his team – and a close friend – needed him most, having rushed to Eriksen’s aid on that dreadful afternoon last June.
• As a figure around whom the entire team and nation can rally around, expect Kjaer to lead by example once again in Qatar.
Joakim Maehle | Position: Fullback | Age: 25
• Maehle is no ordinary fullback. He scored the goal against Austria that sealed Denmark’s World Cup place, became one of the stars of EURO 2020 after proving himself as potent in attack as he is dependable in defence.
• Whether it’s on the right or left, as a fullback or wingback, Maehle is a favourite of Hjulmand’s and has made himself all but rotation-proof.
• Versatility and range of defensive and attacking attributes made Maehle a key player when Hjulmand switched from a 4-3-3 to a 3-4-3 at the EURO, and such tactical switches in Qatar will again lean heavily on him.
Yussuf Poulsen | Position: Forward | Age: 28
• The man who got Denmark off the mark at both Russia 2018 and EURO 2020, Poulsen will again be a key figure as Hjulmand’s side go hunting goals in Qatar.
• The Leipzig frontman does not – by his own admission – possess the technique of teammates like Eriksen and Mikkel Damsgaard.
• His energy and work-rate makes him the perfect first line of defence. Club teammate Willi Orban has lauded that industry as “incredible”, describing Poulsen as “a machine, with or without the ball”.
• Tall, athletic and powerful, the big forward brings a different dimension to Denmark’s attacking play.
MANAGER: Jalel Kadri
Tunisia currently have a temporary coach in charge of the national team, with Mondher Kebaier replaced after the Africa Cup of Nations a few months ago as he battled with Covid-19.
Kadri – who was Kebaier’s assistant manager – is Tunisia’s fourth coach since Nabil Maaloul was in charge at the 2018 World Cup, when they of course lost to England in the dying stages of their opening group game.
When it comes to choosing between home-grown and foreign coaches, Tunisia are the exception among all the Arab nations that have graced the FIFA World Cup. In their five world finals campaigns to date, the Carthage Eagles have had three Tunisians in charge.
A fourth will take them to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™. Appointed an assistant in June 2021, Jalel Kadri was promoted to head coach at the start of this year, a surprise choice just a few months out from the first world finals to be held in the Arab world.
The Carthage Eagles are hoping he can help them break a run of poor results on the big stage since they impressed on their debut at Argentina 1978.
FIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH
Dylan Bronn | Position: Defender | Age: 27
• Bronn also hopes to make headlines at Qatar 2022 as the defensive general of a Carthage Eagles side anxious to bring some joy to their fans.
• Bronn has been a key part of the Tunisia line-up since Henryk Kasperczak handed him his first cap in 2017.
• Comfortable on the ball, he is a tough defender for opponents to get past, something that happened to him only 0.4 times per match in Ligue 1 last season. He can be expected to have a big part to play at Qatar 2022.
• Capped 35 times by his country, he has plenty of experience under his belt and knows what the World Cup is all about, having played two games at Russia 2018: the 2-1 defeat to England and the 5-2 loss to Belgium, who eventually finished third. Bronn scored in the second of those matches.
Ellyes Skhiri | Position: Midfielder | Age: 27
• Skhiri is one of the cornerstones of the Tunisia midfield and will have an important role to play in blunting the threat of the likes of Christian Eriksen, Paul Pogba, Aurelien Tchouameni and Emil Hojbjerg at Qatar 2022. It is a role he has performed with distinction at his club in the last two seasons.
• He has a gift for cutting out opposition passes, winning the ball, blocking shots, playing passes in the opposition half and creating chances. Add to that his ability to shoot from distance and it is clear to see how vital he is to Tunisian hopes at the world finals.
• Now approaching his 50th cap with the Carthage Eagles, Skhiri has talent and experience to offer his side at Qatar 2022, having played every minute of Tunisia’s three matches at Russia 2018.
Aissa Laidouni | Position: Midfielder | Age: 25
• His fine form with the Hungarian giants Ferencvaros earned him a national-team call-up during the qualifiers for the CAF Africa Cup of Nations in March last year. He has since become a vital cog in the Tunisia machine, first under Munther al Kabeer and now with Jalel Kadri.
• Laidouni is currently flying high with his club in the UEFA Europa League. His shooting, passing and ability to intercept passes have gone a long way to putting them there.
• Laidouni has made 22 appearances for his country in all. Though he was left out of last year’s FIFA Arab Cup to give others a chance, he has started and finished the Carthage Eagles’ last 11 competitive matches, an indication of just how central he is to their hopes.
Youssef Msakni | Position: Forward | Age: 31
• Msakni remains an integral part of the Tunisia set-up, having first caught the eye of former Carthage Eagles coach Faouzi Benzarti with his dribbling and shooting 12 years ago, when he was only 19.
• In and out of the side for various reasons, Msakni has always proved his worth whenever returning to the national-team fold.
• An extremely versatile performer, Msakni can play at leftback, centreforward, left wing and as an attacking midfielder.
• The forward has 17 goals to his name in 85 appearances for Tunisia. Qatar 2022 will be his first World Cup, after a serious ankle injury kept him out of Russia 2018.
Wahbi Khazri | Position: Forward | Age: 31
• With his long-range shooting skills, set-piece ability and gift for holding the ball up and dribbling past opponents, Khazri is the kind of forward every coach dreams of having. He also does his fair share of defensive work, an essential facet of the modern forward’s game.
• Not the tallest of front men, he can struggle to win balls in the air and he also has a tendency to stray offside, though he makes up for it with everything else he brings to the table, not least his ability to create and score goals.
• Khazri will have a big part to play in the Carthage Eagles attack at Qatar 2022. He can be relied upon to give defenders of the calibre of Jules Kounde, Raphael Varane, Andreas Christensen and Simon Kjaer plenty to think about.
