Denmark two, France zero.
It was the score on 11 June 2002 that condemned the world champions to the last position in Group A. Goals from Dennis Rommedahl and Jon Dahl Tomasson ended a French side failing to score a goal in South Korea, defeating Senegal 1-0 and drawing 0-0 with Uruguay in their other two matches.
Twenty years later, France is again world champion and faces Denmark in Asia.
Most predictions expect France to perform well at the World Cup starting Sunday in Qatar. The 2018 champion has a strong team and great organization on paper, unlike Tunisia and Australia, as well as Denmark. But like France in 2002, other recent world champions stuttered at the next World Cup, creating a narrative known as the World Cup winner’s curse.
Since the failure of France in 2002, Brazil is the world champion to move beyond the organizational stage. He reached the quarter-finals in 2006, 4 years after his last World Cup championship. The next tournament in 2010 saw the past winner, Italy, the backend of an organization with Paraguay, Slovakia and New Zealand.
This was followed when Spain was crushed 5-1 against the Netherlands in 2014, then lost 2-0 to Chile to secure their elimination. and ended up conceding two goals to finish behind Group F.
Will the curse of the World Cup winner return?
France won their moment at the World Cup in Russia 2018. (Photo by Lars Baron – FIFA/FIFA Getty Images)
There are several points that can make other people doubt the Blues of France.
The team comes into this World Cup in very bad shape, with their neighbours across the Channel, England and Wales, in worse shape ahead of the tournament.
Injuries have hit some key players for France, adding N’Golo Kante, Paul Pogba, Christopher Nkunku and Presnel Kimpembe. France’s recent effects vis-à-vis Group D belligerents, Denmark, won’t give it much encouragement either; France lost 2-1 to the Danes in Paris in June and suffered a 2-0 defeat in Copenhagen in the last foreign break.
The World Cup winner’s curse has been said to be due to champions allowing their groups to become obsolete, keeping players past their peak just for their victory four years earlier.
Spain were among the oldest groups in 2014 and Xavi, David Villa and Xabi Alonso retired from foreign football shortly after Spain was knocked out of the World Cup that year. It had one of the youngest groups in 2018.
It’s another scenario when it comes to the starting 11, with six of the German players who started in the 2014 final opposite Argentina still starting at the 2018 Germany games, all over the age of 28.
The France of 2022, perhaps due to injuries rather than design, opted for a young and hungry team.
Despite the presence of senior players such as Olivier Giroud, 36, and Karim Benzema, 34, the French national team is the tenth youngest on average. Comparing the team’s median age, only Ghana, USA. USA, Wales and Ecuador have younger teams. Head coach Didier Deschamps was possibly there and did, but many of his players did not, and the team averaged only thirteen appearances for the senior team.
Aurélien Tchouameni of France, the foreign friendly match between France and Ivory CoastArray. [ ] at Orange Vélodrome on March 25, 2022 in Marseille,Array (Photo by Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)
France have plenty of talented players like William Saliba, Jules Kounde and midfielders Aurélien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga, who were not part of that 2018 triumph in Moscow, and will be as hungry for their first World Cup medal as any other in the tournament.
The French midfielder’s injuries could appear first as a weak point, but now that players like Tchouameni and Camavinga have the opportunity to shine on the world stage, he may also end up being positive.
France suffered the so-called curse of the World Cup winner in 2002. This year he hopes to finish it.