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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is The Guardian.
Chapter 2: What does the preview cover for World Cup 2026 Groups I to L?
Hello and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly World Cup Previews Group I to L. A Group L?
How long before teams are in Group Z, knocking it into Row Z? England and the rest of Group L can wait until the end as we continue alphabetically Group I, France and their squad goodness. But a tricky group, Senegal and Norway and a tough old draw for Iraq. All the sides in Group J begin with A. Argentina, Algeria, Austria and Jordan. OK, three of them do.
Group K, Portugal, DR, Congo, Uzbekistan and Colombia. And then Group L. Can Tuchel's boys do it? England, those Croatians, I don't have to say it.
Chapter 3: What are France's strengths and weaknesses in Group I?
Ghana and Panama. This is the Guardian Football Weekly. All right, previewing these four groups. Johnny Liu, welcome. Hello.
Chapter 4: How do Senegal and Norway stack up in Group I?
Bonjour, ça va? Philippe Auclair. Ça va, mon vieux? And hello, Barry Glendening.
Bonjour.
OK, then. Group I. France, Senegal, Iraq and Norway. France managed still by Didier Deschamps. Won it, of course, in 98 and 2018. Runners-up last time. Senegal managed by Pap Chou. Got to the quarterfinals in 2002. Last 16, last time out. Iraq managed by the Australian Graham Arnold. Best ever is the group stages. And Norway managed by Sal Solbakken. Got to the round of 16 in 1998.
France, then, Philippe.
Chapter 5: What can we expect from Argentina in Group J?
Very good squad, isn't it? Deschamps' fourth World Cup. Has he won you over yet?
No. But he doesn't care because it's one of the things which are far more important than me. I think when you say squad, I think you have to qualify that a little bit because, first of all, there's the bad news that William Saliba has on his back and that he might not be available for the first game, at least, of the World Cup.
Chapter 6: How does Portugal's squad look in Group K?
So that's which is a bit of a pity because he's probably our best, I was going to say, ball-playing centre-back. Other than that, it's a team that's very heavily... I mean, when you look at it, it's completely unbalanced, by which I mean... the attacking potential of it is absolutely frightening.
Chapter 7: What challenges does DR Congo face in Group K?
And the defense can be a bit frightening as well from time to time because it is not very well balanced. And I would also say that our midfield is nowhere as strong as it has been in the past. You know, when you have to rely perhaps on Golo Kante at the age of 35 to hold everything together. Chouameni didn't have the greatest of seasons. Rabiot, I don't need to tell you who Rabiot is.
But going forward, it's true that... If you can be embarrassed by riches, yeah, France is hiding under the carpet because it's just insane. Even with Hugo Iquitique missing, who probably would have been playing, probably on the left wing, had he been fit. But still, you know, when you've got like some Papé and...
And Dembélé and Barcola and Desiré Doué, who was absolutely brilliant, by the way, in their last Wormwood game. And Alissé.
Who starts?
And Ryan Cherky. Oh, yeah. It's a big problem because, well, it's not a big problem. It will depend on the kind of tactical setup that Deschamps uses. You would imagine that there are some players that he will not be able to leave out, and that's Dembélé and Mbappé. And I would say myself, Michael Ollissé, but I'm not even sure about that.
It would be possible, perhaps, if Kylian accepted to go on the left wing rather than stay in the middle, to have a team like you would have Beppe... Dembele, Doué and Olissé behind them, which I have to say, I quite like the sound of that. And with the possibility of Chucky coming from the bench as a number 10, plus Barcola as a joker, you think that's brilliant.
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Chapter 8: What are England's prospects in Group L?
So yes, it's who do you leave out in attack, but I maintain that we do have problems at the back. Honestly, players like Diote Upamecano and Ibrahima Konate do not really inspire confidence. Again, had pretty difficult season in the case of Konate. There is still the problem of right back.
despite, you know, the best, you know, Jules Koundé being very good in some ways, in many ways, in fact, and people were actually saying maybe we should have Warren Zairem rippling at that. You know, it's the defence and the midfield, for me, are not as strong as they have been in the past. Attacking-wise, yes, it's probably one of the strongest French teams ever, on potential and paper.
But it's not a balanced team. And that's why I don't think that France can be seen as the out-and-out favourite for the competition.
What do you think, Jonny?
I think Philippe's right in a lot of ways. I think it was a few months ago when they played against Colombia and Deschamps gets asked about bolstering the midfield and he sort of makes a joke about, oh, I'm an attacking coach now. I've been holding them back long enough, which is nice, but it's also the sort of thing coaches start to say when, well, actually they've got one eye on their legacy.
There's a sort of... Is it hard to say there's like a Southgate 2024 vibe to all this? Obviously, we know Day Shop is leaving after this tournament. We know Zidane is coming in. And we know that there is a huge amount of pressure domestically for Day Shop to get the most out of this incredible wealth of attacking talent. I think we got a taste of what that might be like.
And this front four that... people assume is going to be the first choice front four, Alisse, Dembélé, Douay and Mbappe. They've only actually started one game together before, which was the Nations League semi-final against Spain last summer. And if you remember what happened then, they were 4-0 down. They were absolutely overrun. And obviously, a lot of water under the bridge since then.
But I think it just underlines the delicacy of that balance. The delicacy that Deschamps actually has struck so well in previous tournaments in providing that firm platform. And now we're in this place where the questions are, how much structure do they actually need? How much freedom should they be given?
I think the talent in that squad gets them to quarterfinals, semifinals without too much pressure. actually. They are simply that good and their highest level, the level of football they're capable of playing is so high.
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