For the first time in history, the Qatar World Cup is being held in a northern Hemisphere winter. Many teams have expressed dissatisfaction with this approach, and for European clubs, it can throw league and cup games into disarray and create a sense of discomfort.FRA 01. Objectively speaking, there is a huge difference between hosting the World Cup in June and hosting it in November. Of course, the conditions are equal, for European teams, Germany did not fit in, and France certainly did not fit in, but the World Cup is about results and disadvantages are often just excuses.
In fact, in the month of June 2022, when the World Cup is supposed to be held, there is also a European football competition taking place, that is the UEFA. While the UEFA Champions League has a somewhat understated feel, being seen by many as a friendly or warm-up event with the FIFA seal on it, no matter how you approach it, whether it's training or inspection, the tournament is a bit of a reflection of a team's form in June. I remember there were many people who hypothesized how the European teams would play the World Cup at the same time and what the result would be. France, in particular, has been hypothesized the most. France were in a mess, bottom of the group. A lot of the big names in the team played badly. Many believe that France should be grateful that the World Cup is not in June, or else in this form, France will be the defending champions out of the group curse.
Indeed, due to the difference in state and the importance of the UEFA League, so the UEFA and Qatar World Cup performance of the different teams. England, for example, Southgate used the Europa League as a training ground for his squad, and their results were disastrous, including an embarrassing 4-0 home defeat by Hungary. But when it came to the World Cup, England immediately changed their face, scoring nine goals in the group stage. Had they not met France in the last eight, they would have had a shot at the title.
England, as well as France, are examples of things going from bad to good, and of course there are examples of things going from good to bad. One team is doing so well in the European league that some fans think they have a chance of winning the championship in Qatar. But half a year later, in Qatar, the team seemed to sputter and descend into mediocrity. Forget champions. They're out of the group.
That team is Denmark.
As I said before, France's performance in the European League is very poor, which is largely due to Denmark. Denmark beat France home and away in a terrifically competitive display. What other team in world football can beat France? Although there are no absolute stars in Denmark, Eriksen's talent, combined with Denmark's overall efficiency, should make their World Cup prospects look promising.
But from June to November, there's just too much change and too much diversity in this half year. Maybe Denmark is not so strong, but other strong teams in the European League deliberately stay force; Or, after half a year of adjustment, many strong teams have found the feeling of playing in the World Cup. All in all, Denmark's performance and achievements in the World Cup, not only did not meet expectations, but far below expectations.
Beating Tunisia in the first round was routine, not a big deal. They lost to France in the second round. But the final round blow to Australia, really should not be. The weakest team in the group was Australia, and Denmark stumbled on them. Denmark's loss to Australia did not cause a huge stir because they are far less popular and influential than traditional powerhouses such as Argentina, France and Germany. But let's not forget that Denmark are in the last four of Euro 2021. In that sense, the upset is no less impressive than Saudi Arabia beating Argentina or Japan beating Spain and Germany.
At the Qatar World Cup, many teams had disappointing results. Mexico, whose streak of reaching the last 16 of seven World Cups was halted; Germany, for example, are out of the group for the first time since 2018. And of course Denmark is in the mix. After all, Denmark has been tantalisingly successful in international competitions for the past two years. A team that reached the last four of the European Championship, beat France twice in the Euroleague, and then crashed out of the group stage of the World Cup, has finally emerged as a force with a chance to shake up the established structure of world football.
With Euro 2024 not far off, it's not clear whether Denmark will be able to bounce back.