Defending champion France have not won their three World Cup group-stage matches since winning their first title in 1998.

Tunisia haven’t even won three matches in their World Cup history, but must beat France on Wednesday to have any chance of advancing to the Round of 16 in Qatar. And Tunisia’s coach Jalel Kadri is feeling the heat.

“I’m not in Jalel’s position,” France coach Didier Deschamps said.

“But they will go for broke.”

Kadri said before the tournament it was his “personal mission” to advance past the group stage and hinted he would quit otherwise.

The French are looking to match the ‘98 team captained by Deschamps. But with Les Bleus already qualified, they only need a draw to guarantee top spot in Group D.

Deschamps has the luxury of resting key players.

“There will be changes,” he said. “Everyone’s ready to play.”

He was evasive when asked if the prolific Kylian Mbappé insisted on playing or accepts he needs a breather.

“Physically he’s fine,” Deschamps said.

“Kylian doesn’t have a big ego, he’s important for us and makes the difference. But he’s always accepted what the team needs.”

One option is to move Antoine Griezmann up from his new position in right midfield into a striker’s role alongside Olivier Giroud, who needs one more goal to become France’s all-time leading scorer with 52 goals. He is now tied on 51 with Thierry Henry.

Deschamps hailed the unselfishness of Griezmann, a prolific forward himself with 42 goals and 26 assists for France.

“He gets as much pleasure tackling someone as setting up a goal,” Deschamps said.

“He’s always been like that. For him it’s not even been a sacrifice (in midfield).”

Steve Mandanda is likely to start between the posts and Deschamps might also want to give Jules Kounde some time to adjust to the right-back position after he replaced the disappointing Benjamin Pavard for the Denmark game.

Deschamps’ biggest decision will be whether Raphael Varane plays or not. The centre-back returned from a hamstring injury for the second game and was substituted in the second half.

“I haven’t talked to the coach about it yet. We’ll think about what’s best for the team first, then we’ll see what’s best for me,” Varane told reporters.

“The best thing is to get some playing time, but we’ll see with the coach.”

Aus eye something ‘special’

Doha: Australia are looking to spark something special in a country where football often takes a backseat by reaching the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time since 2006.

Forward Mathew Leckie said he hoped the 2022 vintage could produce something similar to that of the golden generation from 16 years ago.

“We’ve always believed that we can create something special,” Leckie told a news conference on Tuesday.

“When the Socceroos got out of the group in ‘06 I was a proud fan and now we have the opportunity to be players and do that.”

Australia need to beat the Danes to guarantee a place in the last 16, but a draw would suffice if Tunisia are unable to beat already-qualified France in the other Group D match.

Reuters