World Cup Now: Where does France stand after advancing?
Despite losing 1-0 to Tunisia on Wednesday, France is advancing to the knockout stage after going 2-0-1. DaMarcus Beasley and Sacha Kljestan gave their thoughts on France's current standing on "World Cup Now."
Tunisia vs. France Highlights
DaMarcus Beasley: When you look at those two teams, France is a better team [than Australia]. [They have] the better players, they have the bigger names. In saying that, they are a team that is born to win. And I really liked that [Didier] Deschamps didn't just sit and was satisfied with the one-nil defeat that they had. They're like, "No, no, no, I wanna bring in Mbappe, I wanna bring in Griezmann, I wanna bring in all my boys" so that we can try to win this game because they didn't want to lose.
Sacha Kljestan: Despite their performance [today], I still think they're [France] a favorite in this tournament. At least a top-four favorite. I don't think they're as deep as they were in 2018. I don't think many of the guys who got a chance to play today showed themselves very well. I think their starting 11 is very, very strong, and their depth — maybe Kingsley Coman can come off the bench and there's not much else. I feel bad for Camavinga … He had to play left back in this game. He's definitely not a left back, but he didn't play well. Nobody really stood out. I do think they're still a favorite, I don't think they're the favorite because I don't think they're deep enough.
Sacha Kljestan on the man of the group: It's my best friend, Kylian Mpabbe, my man crush. The first game he scores one goal. The second game he gets two goals and leads them to victory. They ended up with six points. In both games he was the best player on the pitch. I can't wait to see him play in the knockout stages where these games mean even more. In my opinion, he's by far the best player in this group.
DaMarcus Beasley on the matchup he wants to see: As a fan, I would love to see France-Argentina. You want to see the best play against the best. Messi's one of the best. Mbappe's one of the best. I think France, as Sacha said, I think they have a very good 11. I think their first 11 right now is better than Argentina if I'm being honest. If everyone wants to see Messi lift up the World Cup trophy at the end of this tournament, they need to go to that left side of the bracket.
Read more from the World Cup:
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- USA's run continues after thrilling 1-0 win over Iran: Three takeaways
- Wales vs. England highlights: England dominates to take Group B
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