World Cup Group D Recap

Andrew Beasley Sports Betting Expert

8 minute read

Group D at the World Cup has come to a close. The group consisted of France, Australia, Denmark and Tunisia, with France and Australia advancing to the Round of 16.

France was the third-highest seed for the competition, behind only Brazil and Belgium in the Rankings at the time the draw was conducted. As the current World Cup holders, it was only right that Didier Deschamps’ side were among the teams in Pot 1.

Denmark was the third-strongest team from the second seeds, but they only mustered a point. Tunisia was the weakest of the eight teams in Pot 3, yet garnered four points. As for Australia, they surprised everyone with six points (same as France) to advance.

CONTENTS

World Cup Group D Final Standings

Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
France	3	2	0	1	6	3	+3	6
Australia	3	2	0	1	3	4	-1	6
Denmark	3	0	1	2	1	3	-2	1
Tunisia	3	1	1	1	1	1	0	4

World Cup Group D Odds

Australia and France both advance to the next round while Denmark and Tunisia have been eliminated from the World Cup 2022. Listed below are the odds to win/advance from the group. These odds were posted before the tournament kicked off.

Team	Qualify for the Second Round
Australia	+10000
France	-100000

Odds Provided by bet365 - Subject to Change

Below was our initial analysis/coverage of the Group before the start of the World Cup

World Cup Group D Draw

France

France have to contend with something that is threatening to become a full blown curse. The last three defending World Cup winners (Italy, Spain and Germany) have gone out in the Group Stage at the following edition. As much as it seems unthinkable that the French could suffer the same fate, it happened to them in 2002, and at that time they were also reigning European champions.

Deschamps has an embarrassment of riches, particularly in attack. Fourteen men scored at least 20 goals in one of Europe’s big five leagues last season, and half of them were French. What’s more, three of the five players with 25+ were too.

Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema are well known to all soccer fans across the world. They are ably backed by the likes of Antoine Griezmann, Christopher Nkunku and Kingsley Coman. Goals galore, in other words. There’s quality throughout their side, make no mistake, but it’s the forwards who will be filling the highlight reels.

However, while their qualification was never in doubt, they drew home and away against Ukraine and Bosnia took a point home from France too. Deschamps’ side also took just two points from their four Nations League matches in June, though unusual results do occur at the end of a gruelling club season. They’ll have their game faces on once the World Cup gets underway.

Denmark

For only the second time in their history, Denmark have qualified for consecutive World Cups. The odd thing about their record is that they have only gone out at the Group Stage in one of their previous five appearances. They should reach the knockout phase once again.

Danish soccer is in a good place. The Danes reached the semi-final of Euro 2020, only losing in extra time to hosts England, and were only beaten at the last World Cup on penalties.

They also won nine of their 10 matches in qualification, only suffering defeat in the final match after they had already secured their spot in Qatar. Ignore that 2-0 loss to Scotland and they conceded just once in their group. Denmark will obviously face stiffer tests here but that’s a very impressive record.

Although they had 18 different goal scorers in qualifying, their two main threats were Joaklm Maehle and Andreas Skov Olsen, who got five each. France will also be wary of Andreas Cornelius, who scored twice against them in June.

Denmark have little history with Australia and Tunisia, having faced them four times and once respectively. With their form they will expect to beat both and make the Round of 16, likely qualifying behind France.

Tunisia

Tunisia have previously appeared at five World Cups but have yet to make it through the Group Stage. They are unlikely to improve their record here.

They did at least collect one of their two World Cup victories four years ago. Defeats to England and Belgium in Russia were expected, so it was good that they ended their campaign with a victory over Panama.

The Tunisians will hope to collect a statement result in Qatar. If they are to do so, they will rely upon their defence. Only two teams in the second phase of the African qualification process conceded fewer goals. Tunisia then got through the play off with a 1-0 win and 0-0 draw against Mali.

The decisive goal in that tie was an own goal though. They are not blessed with goal scorers. Wahbi Khazri got three in round two of qualifying while Ellyes Skhiri got two. Neither has ever scored 10 non-penalty goals in a top division league season, so won’t frighten France or Denmark.

While it was too long ago to be relevant, Tunisia beat Australia when they last met, in 2005. They will look for a repeat and hope to dog out goalless draws with the stronger teams.

Australia

The Socceroos will be appearing in their fifth consecutive World Cup, looking to repeat their Round of 16 heroics from 2006. However, their form in qualification suggests it will be incredibly difficult.

They won just four of their 10 matches in the third round. More worryingly, Australia took just one point from their quartet of games against fellow qualifying nations Saudi Arabia and Japan. Thereafter they beat United Arab Emirates 2-1 to advance to the inter-confederation play-off against Peru, where they won on penalties.

But while Australia don’t have many recent big results to fall back on, they faced France and Denmark at the last World Cup and did quite well. Granted they only took one point, but it took a late own goal for the eventual champions to beat them 2-1.

Manager Graham Arnold will be aiming to secure similarly close games as he does not have too many scorers to call upon. Australia’s two goals at the last World Cup both came from the penalty spot and the fear is they will struggle to score in open play once again.

While Jamie Maclaren was their top scorer in qualifying, he got more of his strikes in the earlier, easier phase. In the third round, Fagiano Okayama striker Mitchell Duke netted three times but he is not a regular scorer at club level.

World Cup Group D Favorites

The folks at BetMGM have no concerns that France are going to follow the poor example set by the last three defending champions. Where they all fell at the first hurdle, Deschamps’ side are overwhelmingly expected to advance. Their odds to qualify for the knockout phase are so skinny you’d have to wager $100 to win $6.25. Your money will be safe but there’s no point going anywhere near that bet.

While their odds of -275 to top the group are a little more appealing, the +275 for Denmark to finish first is most intriguing. They will likely need to beat France to manage this, but they have already defeated them this year. That they are one of the shorter priced second favourite group winners when they are up against the reigning champions shows they have potential to upset the odds.

The same can not be said for Australia (at +1400 to top the group) or Tunisia (+1800). Even if the France vs. Denmark match ends in a draw and one of the outsiders wins the clash between them, that team will still need at least another win to top the group. History suggests there is no chance of that happening.

Teams That Advance From World Cup Group D

The teams who qualify from this section will face the top two from Group C on either December 3 or 4. Lionel Messi’s Argentina are red hot favourites to finish first in that section and are best avoided in the Round of 16.

The runner-up is harder to call, with Mexico and Poland given almost equal chance of qualifying. The former almost always go out in the first knockout round while the latter rarely each it. Neither would daunt the winners from Group C. Beyond that it will likely be England waiting in the quarter-finals.

World Cup Group D FAQ

What are the World Cup groups?

Group A: Netherlands, Senegal, Ecuador, Qatar

Group B: England, USA, Wales, Iran

Group C: Argentina, Mexico, Poland, Saudi Arabia

Group D: France, Denmark, Australia, Tunisia

Group E: Spain, Germany, Japan, Costa Rica

Group F: Belgium, Croatia, Morocco, Canada

Group G: Brazil, Switzerland, Serbia, Cameroon

Group H: Portugal, Uruguay, Ghana, Korea Republic

How many teams will there be in Qatar in 2022?

There are 32 teams taking part in Qatar. Thirteen have qualified from Europe, six from Asia and five from Africa. With four apiece from North and South America, we have our competitors.

Which teams will contest the World Cup final?

The odds suggest the World Cup final will be between France (who are +250) and Brazil (+275). No team has reached successive finals since the Brazilians made three on the spin between 1994 and 2002, so recent history is against the French doing likewise.

Considering they are second in the Rankings, Belgium’s price of +500 could be a decent option. Concerns about their team having aged past their best are valid but they have a very talented squad.

Argentina (+400) are worth a look too. They are in a very winnable group and assuming they finish top the draw could open very nicely for them.

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Andrew Beasley

Andrew Beasley is a freelance football writer who uses his statistical knowledge and insight of soccer to provide betting previews, strategy articles and podcasts for a variety of websites and bookmakers. Primarily focussed on the EPL, if the data is available for another league, he’ll manage to find an edge somewhere.Andrew was also part of the victorious team in season 15 of the BBC quiz show Only Connect. He’s good at spotting sequences and connections in soccer too. More from Andrew Beasley