The French team defeated Denmark 2:1 and advanced to the playoffs of the 2022 World Cup ahead of schedule from first place (6 points). And this is a real achievement, given the strange tradition of the 21st century: since 2002, world champions have regularly failed the next tournament (Brazil is an exception).

France itself started it all 20 years ago.

France, World Cup 2002

The French never won that championship: two defeats (against Senegal and Denmark) and a goalless draw with Uruguay. It was the first time since the 1966 World Cup that the champion did not advance from the group (Brazil, the champion of the 1962 tournament, scored then).

Captain Marcel Desailly was perplexed: This is really something terrible, because it doesn’t happen so that the world champion 1win-az.net would be eliminated in the first round. We still have the best players, but something broke.

France's participation in the 2002 World Cup was overshadowed by Zidane's injury. In the last friendly match before the start of the tournament, on May 25 against South Korea, the leader of the national team limped and missed the second half. The next day, the head of the French Football Federation, Claude Simone, announced that Zidane would not play in the first two matches of the 2002 World Cup.

We recalled that French team in the text about beloved Senegal:

To Japan and The French arrived in South Korea with crowns on their heads. The national team of Roger Lemaire was considered the strongest in the world from Aime Jacquet, he got the championship team in 1998, with which he also won Euro 2000. Landed in Asia were Zinedine Zidane, who had just scored that very goal against Bayer in the Champions League final, and Thierry Henry, Sylvain Wiltord and Patrick Vieira, who won the Premier League and the FA Cup.

No one doubted the victory of France especially the French themselves. The day before the game, they never showed up for training on the field of the stadium where the match was supposed to take place. Even after the draw of the group stage, the champions realized that they would go through the group with Senegal, Denmark and Uruguay without any tension.

France had other concerns: the world and European champions sparkled in front of the paparazzi, smiled at secular parties and thought little about football . The Guardian wrote that the team brought 20 cases of Chateau La Lignane and Domaine de L’Echevin wine, two cases of Cotes-du-Rhone (served during dinner) and several bottles of Romanee- Conti for 4 thousand pounds apiece.

The French (mostly players who did not make it into the starting lineup) taxied into the Sheraton Sirocco club: there were secret elevators so that celebrities could secretly leave the establishment in the company of girls.< /p>

Many players were shocked by what followed after winning the 1998 World Cup. Sponsors were everywhere. We should have focused on work, but we couldn't. There was always some event where you had to shake hands and take pictures. We were surrounded by people who told us that we were the best, that we could not lose. I lost my head a little myself. It was a mess, recalled Emmanuel Petit.

Italy, World Cup 2010

Two draws (with Paraguay and New Zealand), defeat against Slovakia and fourth place in the group, the sad result of Italy by Marcello Lippi . For the first time in the history of the World Cup, the team took the last place in the group.

I take full responsibility, said Lippi. If a team enters a game with fear, it means that the coach has not done his job the way he should have. I thought that the guys I challenged to the World Cup would be able to play differently, but obviously I was wrong.

Captain Fabio Cannavaro explained after the failure that the problem is deeper: Our football mechanisms must change. Look at our stadiums and our culture. When we watch the game, we must first of all pay attention to the young, otherwise we will not be able to win the World Cup again for 25 years.

The Federation also decided that one of the reasons for the failure was the lack of young players. Lippi made a bet on those who won the World Cup in 2006, but it was necessary to introduce them into the newcomers. Federation Vice President Demetrio Albertini, a former Milan star, entrusted the reorganization of the youth system to Arrigo Sacchi.