They also entered Copa America 2019 and 2021 Gold Cup to prepare. They didn't do too bad at the Gold Cup, winning their group (against Honduras, Panama & Grenada) and and then beating El Salvador to make it to the semi-finals before being beaten by the US, who went on the win the tournament. In Copa America they finished bottom of their group with a single point, achieved against Paraguay.

Verdict for Group D:

France performed strongly in the first two games which allowed them to field a B-team in the final game. Despite this loss - which was the result of the stolen goal because incompetent defending is not the same as a deflected ball - France can be safely counted towards the small circle of top favorites of this tournament after ending the curse for European world champions of the 21st century. Being able to rest the majority of starters should also be beneficial in this particular World Cup where there wasn't a break between the end of league activity and the start of the tournament.

Denmark will likely be the biggest disappointment of this tournament. They played to the level of their opponents every time; which is a good thing when compared against France, but not against Tunisia and Australia. There are many aspects in football, but at the end of the day it is about scoring goals, something that Denmark was seemingly incapable of this time. They just never got going.

Which makes it a blessing that Australia could score a game-winning goal against Denmark instead of being left with an 0-0 draw. If that had happened, then Tunisia would have advanced on the basis of scoring one goal in total, being lucky to play against France's B-team AND getting huge help from the referees. That would have soured the WC tremendously for me.

11 goals scored for an average of 1.83. If it hadn't been for France's great showings in the first two games, this group would have been a bust. Weak.

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Performance per continent:

Africa: 1/2 - 50%
Asia: 1/3 - 33%
Europe: 3/5 - 60%
North America: 1/1 - 100%
South America: 0/1 - 0%

Sorry, what do you mean by ‘stolen goal’? Can’t see any issue with the one Tunisia scored. And whilst France have one chalked off (correctly) for offside, so did Tunisia.

The goal in the 97th minute. Griezmann was offside when the free kick got kicked, then the defender played the ball intentionally, therefore creating a new situation where there couldn't be an offside. Something comparable to this is Lukaku's goal against Russia at Euro 2020 which did count.

I don’t know about the Belgium one but for this I would presume that Griezmann was offside when it was initially played and still influenced play, with the defender needing to stop the play getting to him. So it’s offside in the first instance and the bit where the defender gets the ball occurs once play is already ruled to be halted.

If you have to 'presume' that means you weren't actually watching (or at least paying attention). I was watching and Griezmann literally just stood still well out of the way of any defender until they touched it. All the aftermatch analysts all agreed it was a poor call from the officials too.

I tend to try and work out what is the thinking of the officials, hence why I presumed.

It looks like Argentina only had trouble with Saudi Arabia.

Not much of a point to discuss France's goal any further, because ultimately it didn't change anything. France won the group regardless, as did Tunisia go home.

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Verdict for Group C:

Argentina stumbled out of the gate, but dominated afterwards. They deserved to win this group, no doubt about it. Their loss against Saudi Arabia seems to have humbled them while not resulting in a drawback like second place to face France or worse, get eliminated altogether.

Poland was lucky to finish in second place, because today's performance was shameful all around. They did nothing more than try to not lose too high. But on the other hand, Mexico had enough chances to secure a round of 16 spot, not just today, but also with the possibility of more courageous play against Poland to avoid this situation altogether where the goal difference would make the difference. I'd rather have Mexico go through, but it is what it is and either way, France would have been served with a manageable opponent at the beginning of the knockout stage.

Saudi Arabia looked outmatched beyond their opener against Argentina, especially today. Which makes it all the more shocking that they beat the team from South America.

12 goals scored. Weak, but the final matchday was exciting for sure.

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Performance per continent:

Africa: 1/2 - 50%
Asia: 1/4 - 25%
Europe: 4/6 - 67%
North America: 1/2 - 50%
South America: 1/2 - 50%

Yep. Argentina group winner, still going as planned.