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Spurs Legends preview the World Cup - Younes Kaboul on Group D

Wed 16 November 2022, 12:45|Tottenham Hotspur

The greatest football show on earth kicks-off this weekend as Qatar hosts the World Cup.

The first match sees the hosts up against Ecuador at the Al Bayt Stadium on Sunday (20 November, 4pm). That begins a run of 48 matches across eight groups until Friday 2 December. The knockout stage begins the next day, 3 December, with the final on Sunday 18 December.

With the tournament looming, we've called on a number of Spurs legends - players and managers - to preview the groups, with an eye on their respective country.

Next up, Younes Kaboul takes a look at France and Group D...

Group D

France, Australia, Denmark, Tunisia

Match dates

22/11 - Denmark v Tunisia, France v Australia; 26/11 Tunisia v Australia, France v Denmark; 30/11 - Australia v Denmark, Tunisia v France.

Younes Kaboul

Capped five times by France in 2011, a team-mate and friend of Hugo Lloris going back to playing together for France Under-16s, Younes made 140 appearances for in two spells, 20007-2015. Captain in 2014, he was involved in some key moments, not least setting up Peter Crouch's winner at City to secure Champions League football in May, 2010, followed later that year by the winner at Arsenal. Younes also had spells at Portsmouth, Sunderland and Watford. He retired in 2018...

“This is a tough group. It’s not the first time we’ve played Australia in the World Cup, and we play again in the first game, but you have to win that first game, it’s key to take off the pressure. France are looking good. They will be one of the favourites, even if they do have injuries to a couple of important players. The last time we played Denmark, they beat us in Copenhagen (2-0 in September) and Denmark played really well. That is a team with a lot of experience, they had a great run to reach the semi-finals of the Euros and pretty much all their players play for top teams in Europe. They are warriors, they fight for every ball, but they can also play, with Christian Eriksen the Mozart of the team. France have to play their game and if they focus on themselves, they should be fine. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, he's the guard dog, full of energy, well-disciplined in midfield, he knows his job and does it really well. Tunisia are very unpredictable, a very technical side, again, it’s the World Cup and anything can happen, but from that group, I see France and Denmark going through.”