Tchouaméni: France is “feared by top nations”
France is a favorite to win the 2022 World Cup and the French midfielder his Real Madrid teammates representing top nations are threatened by France.
When talking about World Cup champion contenders for the 2022 tournament in Qatar, the favorites are pretty unanimous - Brazil, Argentina, and France. Of course, there are several other possibilities and teams who could make it all the way. Arguments could be made for England, Portugal, Germany, and more. But when discussing the topic, France seems to always be thrown out as an option.
Aurélien Tchouaméni, French midfielder who also plays for Real Madrid, said he and his teammates, several of whom are playing in the World Cup as well, had many discussions about the tournament.
“At [Real] Madrid, we have players from several nations that are likely to go all the way in this competition,” said Tchouaméni. “We were teasing each other a bit,
France has won the World Cup on two occasions - 1998 and 2018. The defending champions rank among the top favorites in 2022 as well, but throughout recent history, the tournament has not favored title holders. No side has won back-to-back tournaments since Brazil did it in 1958 and 1962. And since 2002, four of the last five defending champions were knocked out in the group stage.
Les Bleus have top tier talent, especially on the front line with the duo of Kylian Mbappé and Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema. Unfortunately for France, they’ve been dealing with injuries as of late. They’ll be without N’Golo Kanté, Paul Pogo, and Presnel Kimpembe, and now Raphaël Varane’s health is on the fritz.
“We’ve had a lot of injuries unfortunately,” said Tchouaméni. “But I can tell you that we are feared by quite a few nations.”