DOHA — French-born Wahbi Khazri scored the
only goal of the game as Tunisia claimed a famous 1–0 win over holders France
at the
World Cup on Wednesday, but it was not enough for them to reach the last
16.
اضافة اعلان
France coach Didier Deschamps, whose
team were already through to the knockouts, made nine changes but they were a
shadow of their usual selves and Khazri punished them in the 58th minute at
Education City Stadium.
Tunisia then had to hold on for the
victory as an
Antoine Griezmann goal in stoppage time was disallowed following
a VAR review.
Khazri, who grew up in Corsica and plays
in Ligue 1 for Montpellier, was one of six players in the Tunisian line-up who
were born on French soil and he was capped by France at U21 level.
There is a large Tunisian community in
France who will savor the result, the country’s first win against European
opposition at a World Cup and just their third ever in 18 matches at the
tournament.
However, they needed Australia to drop
points in the day’s other Group D game to stand a chance of reaching the last
16 for the first time.
The Socceroos’ 1–0 win over Denmark
means it is they who go through with France.
The world champions and Australia
finished level on six points, but France top the section on goal difference and
will await the Group C runners-up in the last-16 on Sunday.
Les Bleus had been the first team to
secure a place in the next round after winning their opening two games in Qatar
so it was no surprise that Deschamps opted to make changes.
Kylian Mbappe was one of those to drop
out, with Eintracht Frankfurt’s Randal Kolo Muani getting his first
international start up front.
There was also a
start at right-back for Axel Disasi, the first outfield player to make his France
debut in a World Cup match since 1966, while Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo
Camavinga started at left-back.
Griezmann denied equalizer
France were unrecognizable
as Deschamps repeated what he had done four years ago, when he made sweeping
changes for the final group game against Denmark.
The result then was a soporific 0–0 draw which did
not ultimately stop France from winning the title.
This time France’s second string performed as if
they had never played together before and Tunisia — with a partisan crowd
behind them — sensed their chance as they looked to get beyond the group stage
at a World Cup for the first time.
The crowd erupted when Tunisia put the ball in the
net just eight minutes in.
Nader Ghandri diverted a Khazri free-kick past Steve
Mandanda, but he was just offside.
Starting at this World Cup for the first time,
captain Khazri also stung the palms of
Mandanda with a volley in the 35th
minute, while a shot that Kingsley Coman skewed well wide was as close as
France came.
They were disjointed, and it was no surprise when
Tunisia took the lead.
France appealed in vain for a foul as Youssouf
Fofana was dispossessed by Ellyes Skhiri, and Khazri ran through before
slotting a shot past Mandanda.
Deschamps then sent on Mbappe as well as Griezmann
and Ousmane Dembele in an attempt to avoid France’s first World Cup group-stage
defeat since their disastrous 2010 campaign.
Griezmann thought he had equalized deep into injury time
when he volleyed home inside the box, but the referee disallowed the goal for
offside after a lengthy VAR review.
Read more Sports
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
