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In the last World Cup G group match on Friday, France and Togo will test their strength. For the Africans, this will be their last match in this tournament, unlike the French, who still have good chances to advance to the round of 16 if they win.
G Group
France - Togo Location: Rhein Energie Stadion, Cologne, 46,000 seats Time: June 23, 22:00 Lithuania time Referee: Jorge Larrionda (Uruguay)
Head-to-head matches This will be the first meeting between these two teams.
France FIFA Ranking: 8th place It seems that "Les Bleus" are still haunted by the curse of 2002, as they have not managed to win a single match in this tournament. They only managed to draw against Switzerland, with a score of 0-0, and against South Korea, with a score of 1-1. The good news is that they finally managed to score their first goal since 1998, and it was done by Thierry Henry, one of the best strikers in recent years. However, this may not be enough to secure a spot in the round of 16.
France, with two points, occupies third place in their group and today they have great chances to secure their first win and thus break their streak of misfortune. Their opponents will be one of the tournament's underdogs, Togo, who currently sit at the bottom of Group G. A win for France in this match is crucial if they want to fight for a spot in the round of 16; otherwise, they would repeat the scenario of 2002 when they were forced to go home after the first round.
Togo FIFA Ranking: 61st place The tournament started quite unsuccessfully for these debutants, as they lost the first match to South Korea with a score of 2-1, followed by a defeat against Switzerland with a score of 2-0. The Africans have not earned any points yet and occupy the last place in their group, but today they have a great opportunity to make some noise at this World Cup, especially since they will face the struggling French team. A victory would secure them third place in the group, allowing them to leave with their heads held high, leaving behind the 1998 champion, the French national team.
Opinions
France
"I am not pessimistic, and we are ready to advance to the next stage," said French coach Raymond Domenech. "I think about the future, and we will try to play much better against our opponents."
"I still believe that we will reach the round of 16," said optimistically one of the leaders of the French team Thierry Henry. "This should be one of the easiest games for us in this tournament, and we will try to take advantage of that. We played much better against South Korea, unlike against Switzerland, and if we manage to beat Togo, we will be closer to our goal."
Togo
"We came here with 23 players, and I will try to give them all the opportunity to gain at least some experience in such high-level competition," shared Togo coach Otto Pfister.
"We know that the French need to win, and they will try to attack us from all sides. But I believe that we can stop them and achieve a good result," said the strategist.
Possible lineups
France: Fabien Barthez; Willy Sagnol, Lilian Thuram, William Gallas, Mikael Silvestre; Franck Ribery, Patrick Vieira, Claude Makelele, Florent Malouda; David Trezeguet, Thierry Henry.
Togo: Kossi Agassa; Dare Nibombe, Jean Paul Abalo, Massamesso Tchangai, Kuami Agboh; Thomas Dossevi, Cherif Toure Mamam, Yao Aziawanou, Mohamed Kader Coubadja; Richmond Forson, Emmanuel Adebayor.
