Al Rayyan, Qatar — France We are already through to the last 16 but coach Didier Deschamps is not happy with their 1-0 defeat. Tunisia,
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Wahbi Khajri He scored the only goal of the game in the 58th minute, and Deschamps’ second spell, which rested most of their star names, failed to do anything to cement a place in the team.
, Why VAR disallowed Griezmann’s offside goal
antoine griezmann There was a goal controversially disallowed by VAR at the end of eight minutes of extra time, but France really deserved nothing from the game against a Tunisian side who will now go home.
jump to: player ratings , Best/Worst Performers , Highlights and Notable Moments , postmatch quotes , key figures , upcoming fixtures
Swift response
1. Deschamps’ experiment backfires
With France having already qualified for the round of 16 and almost assured of first place in the group, the game was effectively meaningless for Deschamps. So the head coach of France decided to use it as a big experiment.
Deschamps made nine changes to the batting line-up Denmark leaving saturday so strongly kilian mbappeGriezmann and theo hernandez On the bench. only rafael verne And aurelian tchoumeni retained his place in the starting XI. However, rotation is not the problem here, it is that the system was completely wrong. les blues There was no structure and were all over the place.
with 4-3-3 Matteo Guendouzzi as a leftist Eduardo Camavinga Didn’t function as a left-back at all. It was unbalanced and the players seemed lost. Four years earlier in Russia, Deschamps turned everything around for the third group game against Denmark, and the 0–0 draw was his worst game of that tournament. he did it again. This time his team lost, he learned nothing, and his experiment backfired.
– landscape: Permutation for all eight groups
2. Deep, how deep?
The game was also an opportunity for some of the French players to show their manager what they were made of in a World Cup context and that they could challenge for a place in the starting XI. Well, that didn’t work either.
apart from the wonderful Ibrahima Konate back and somewhat Randall Colo MuniWho tried hard and had some good touches up front, the performances of all the other entrants were disastrous.
Camavinga, in a very unusual left-back position, was a nightmare. but Joseph FofanaDeschamps, who is highly regarded, also suffered a setback in his normal position in midfield and missed a great chance to impress. the same has to be said for kingsley commonwhose competition Ousmane Dembele Who was but poor for the starting place on the right wing. Jordan Verrout was disappointing in midfield, and Matteo Guendouzzi Was deployed as a left winger (then a right) and completely out of position, disappointed. axel disassiFor his first cap, played right-back and didn’t do enough.
It was an overall disappointing evening in terms of result and individual and group performances.
3. Khajri, a touch of class
What a player! Where would Tunisia be in this group if Khajri was fully fit from the start of the tournament? Definitely round of 16. Khajri’s minutes were restricted due to injury, and he only played an hour in this game. But the captain, even when not fully fit, led them to a famous victory against the reigning world champions.
Khajri, with all his flair and technical ability, achieved his goal brilliantly. He has a great touch, be it with his preferred right foot (as we can see on his dead ball delivery) or his left arm like a half-volley keeper steve mandanda Struggled to parry in the first half. He is a leader, guide and artist. He is also undoubtedly the best player in Tunisia.
At 31, this could be his last World Cup montpellier Further, and he dreams of qualifying his country for the knockout rounds. He worked his way up against France, the country where he was born. It’s a shame his tournament has now come to an end, but Tunisia couldn’t do without him.
player ratings
Tunisia: Aymen Dahmen 5, Yassin Mariah 6, Nader Ghandry 6, Montaser Talbi 6, Wajdi Kecharida 5, Elise Scheiri 7, Aissa Ladouni 6, Ali Maloul 6, Anis Ben Slimane 6, Mohammed Ali 6, Ben Romdhane 5, Gaylan Chaleli 5, Wahbi Khajri 7
sub: Issam Jebali 4, Gaylen Chaleli 5, Ali Abdi 5
France: Steve Mandanda 4, Axel DeSassi 3, Raphael Varane 4, Ibrahima Konate 7, Eduardo Camavinga 3, Youssef Fofana 3, Aurelien Tchoumenyi 6, Jordan Vertout 3, Kingsley Coman 4, Randall Kolo Muni 5, Matteo Guendouzi 4
sub: William Saliba 5, Adrien Rabiot 5, Antoine Griezmann 5, Ousmane Dembele 4, Kylian Mbappe 5
best and worst performers
Best: Ibrahima Konate
liverpool The centre-back was excellent throughout the game. He won 93% (13 of 14) of his doubles, completed 99% of his passes (71 of 72), with nine as Tunisia finished last third. He was a rock along with the varan and then William Saliba, He did not commit a single foul in this game but recovered the ball five times. very impressive!
Worst: Yousuf Fofana
The Monaco midfielder had a chance to impress Deschamps but failed miserably. He was overrun, lost the ball too often (only 79% accurate) and made bad decisions. Playing with friend and former teammate Tchoumeni should have helped him, but instead broke down.
Highlights and Notable Moments
Wahbi Khajri will always be remembered by the Tunisian people. A moment of magic, a moment for the history books 🇹🇳#FIFA World Cup , @FTF_OFFICIELLE pic.twitter.com/ZzBraamQlZ
– CAF (@CAF_Online) November 30, 2022
After the match: What the players and managers said
Tunisia coach Jalel Kadri on the win: “It’s a mixed feeling because we’re happy to beat a team like France… We can be proud and leave with our heads held high, but it’s a bittersweet victory.
“It would have been great to beat France and reach the last 16. It’s our fault that we didn’t do what we should have done earlier.”
France coach Didier Deschamps, on his line-up: ,[The players] Will learn from this… Tunisia was right for it, while we were sneaky, came late to challenges and made too many mistakes, even though we did better in the end when some of the more experienced players came on.
“This result means we haven’t met all our objectives but the most important was to be in the last 16.”
Key Stats (Provided by ESPN Stats & Info)
– Only three times have the defending champions lost to an African team in the World Cup, and two of those three instances were France losing to a former French colony (2002 vs. Senegal, 2022 vs. Tunisia).
– Prior to this edition, Australia had only kept one clean sheet in the World Cup — a 0–0 draw in 1974 versus Chile. He now has two in the 2022 tournament.
– Tunisia Wahbi Khajri He is the first African player in World Cup history to score in three consecutive starts, and he was directly involved in each of Tunisia’s last five goals in the tournament (three goals, two assists).
next
Tunisia: Australia’s victory over Denmark meant that all Tunisia’s efforts were in vain, and they were now returning home.
France: Deschamps takes his team to Doha and the Al Thumama Stadium on Sunday, where Les Bleus will meet the Group C winners. They will find out their round-of-16 opponents later on Wednesday.
