Deschamps wary of Denmark threat despite kind France draw in Qatar

Didier Deschamps highlighted Denmark’s quality as he warned of the difficulties of France’s 2022 World Cup draw.

World champions France were entered into Group D on Friday, alongside Denmark, Tunisia and one of Peru, the United Arab Emirates or Australia.

Les Bleus also faced Denmark, Peru and Australia in the first round en route to the title in Russia four years ago and are now expected to comfortably get out of their group.

However, Deschamps was anything but complacent following the draw, well aware of the threat Denmark in particular pose.

Semi-finalists at Euro 2020, Denmark are ranked 11th in the world, with only Mexico and the Netherlands above them from pot two. Germany, widely considered the toughest opponents, are 12th.

And Kasper Hjulmand’s side will get a good look at France in the Nations League at the end of this season, too.

Were France to fall into second place in their group, they would face the winners of Argentina’s pool. Les Bleus beat Lionel Messi and Co. in Russia but would undoubtedly rather avoid one of the sport’s great names in what seems set to be his last World Cup.

2 – France have already faced Denmark three times at the World Cup group stage, including the two editions in which Les Bleus have lifted the trophy (2-1 in 1998 and 0-0 in 2018). Sign? #WorldCupDraw #FRADEN pic.twitter.com/Fi7I6pPoli

— OptaJean (@OptaJean) April 1, 2022

Deschamps, speaking to beIN SPORTS, said: “I do not know if this draw is perfect.

“The Danes will also have the advantage of getting to know us better after the two Nations League games this summer. And then it’s not the same competition, so it’s something else.

“You have to have a lot of respect for this team and especially not think that it’s a given. We are talking about the 11th world nation that reached a semi-final at the last Euro. They rank higher than Germany.

“I saw that we will cross with the group of Argentina, but the most important thing is to know the schedules of the matches. We could go from 1pm to 10pm and it’s not the same thing at all.

“We already know the dates, but we will wait to know the schedules.”