FIFA World Cup 2022 Group D: Team Stats, Fixtures & Predictions

France is the current FIFA World Cup champion, and they are trying to keep their title in Qatar. They are in a group that is easy to handle and familiar to them.

The draw placed the world champions in a group with Denmark, Tunisia, and Australia, who won the intercontinental playoff.

The Socceroos beat Peru in a penalty shootout to earn a spot in Qatar. In an earlier playoff, they had to beat the United Arab Emirates.

Les Bleus, which is led by Didier Deschamps, will play Australia in their first game. France is the betting favorite to move on to the next round. But the race behind them for second place could be very interesting.

Three of the teams in the group, France, Denmark, and Australia, played each other at the same stage of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. France and Denmark advanced to the next round, while Australia finished last.

World Cup Group D fixtures and match schedule

READ ALSO: 2022 FIFA World Cup Group C: Team Stats And Predictions

World Cup Group D teams

France

France won the last World Cup in 2018, and they will be determined to keep it. However, they will have to do a lot better than they did at Euro 2020 when Switzerland eliminated them in the Round of 16.

If superstar Kylian Mbappé is at his best, it could make all the difference for Les Bleus. Didier Deschamps’ talented team also has a lot of players with international experience.

France beat Spain in the final of the 2020-2021 UEFA Nations League, and if they can play well as a team, they will be among the top contenders for the title in Qatar.

• Current FIFA world ranking: No. 4 (August 2022)
• Regional ranking: 2nd (UEFA)
• World Cup titles: 2
• World Cup appearances (last): 15 (Russia, 2018)
• How qualified: UEFA Group D winners: 5W-0L-3D
• Coach: Didier Deschamps (France) since July 2012
• Key players: Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain / France), Paul Pogba (Juventus / Italy), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid / Spain)

Australia

The Socceroos beat Peru in a penalty shootout on June 13 to win the last spot in Group D in a FIFA intercontinental playoff with a single winner. Six days earlier, Australia had to beat the United Arab Emirates 2-1 in a separate Asian qualifying playoff in order to play Peru for a spot in the World Cup.

Australia saved a qualifying campaign that started out well with 11 straight wins but ended badly with losses to Japan and Saudi Arabia, which ended their hopes of qualifying automatically and forced them to go through the playoffs.

Since the turn of the century, the Socceroos have been regulars at the World Cup, making it to the main competition five times in a row.

• Current FIFA world ranking: No. 39 (August 2022)
• Regional ranking: 4th (AFC)
• World Cup appearances (last): 5 (Russia, 2018)
• Coach: Graham Arnold (Australia) since July 2018
• Key players: Mat Ryan (Copenhagen / Denmark), Tom Rogic (West Brom / England), Trent Sainsbury (Al Wakrah / Qatar)

Denmark

Denmark could be at the center of one of the most touching and emotional stories at this World Cup. They are looking to build on their strong performance at Euro 2020.

That tournament got off to a terrible start when their star player, Christian Eriksen, had a heart attack during their first game against Finland in Copenhagen. The playmaker got better, which was a relief, and his teammates fought hard without him and made it to the semifinals, where they lost to England in extra time.

Eriksen had an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) put in last year, but he still played for Brentford in the Premier League and joined Manchester United this summer. He is now back on the national team and, against all odds, could shine again on the biggest stage as part of Kasper Hjulmand’s exciting team.

• Current FIFA world ranking: No. 10 (August 2022)
• Regional ranking: 8th (UEFA)
• World Cup appearances (last): 6 (Russia, 2018)
• How qualified: UEFA Group F winners: 9W-1L-0D
• Coach: Kasper Hjulmand (Denmark) since August 2020
• Key players: Christian Eriksen (Manchester United / England), Joakim Maehle (Atalanta / Italy), Mikkel Damsgaard (Brentford / England)

Tunisia

Tunisia is going to back-to-back World Cups because they beat Mali in the final qualifying round. This will be their sixth time at the World Cup finals. The team from North Africa will try to move on to the next round for the first time.

Most of the team is based in Europe, and Montpellier forward Wahbi Khazri is their main playmaker. Manchester United youngster Hannibal Mejbri, who is on loan at Birmingham, is one name to keep an eye on because he could have a big tournament.

With coach Jalel Kadri in charge, the Eagles of Carthage are starting a new era in time for the World Cup 2022. The Tunisia Football Federation promoted Kadri to head coach in January. He took over for Mondher Bebaier, who was fired after a disappointing showing at the Africa Cup of Nations.

• Current FIFA world ranking: No. 30 (August 2022)
• Regional ranking: 3rd (CAF)
• World Cup appearances (last): 5 (Russia, 2018)
• How qualified: CAF Third Round winners (agg 1-0 vs. Mali)
• Coach: Jalel Kadri (Tunisia) since January 2022
• Key players: Wahbi Khazri (Montpellier / France), Hannibal Mejbri (Birmingham City / England), Ali Maaloul (Al Ahly / Egypt)

We predict an easy advancement for France and Denmark in this group.

The four teams picked for the group will play each other three times in a round-robin style. The standings in each group are based on the points earned in these three games. A win gives three points, a tie gives one point, and a loss gives no points.

The two teams with the most points in each group move on to the single-game knockouts. If two teams have the same number of points, the difference in goals scored is the first way to break the tie. If teams are also tied in these areas, a different set of tiebreakers are used.