Denmark 2-0 France (2002)
The date was 11 June, 2002. The place was the Munhak Stadium, Incheon
By Conor Hogan
2002 was also a difficult World Cup for the French, in fact it almost mirrored this year’s tournament. They started out with a shock 1-0 loss to Senegal (thanks to a goal from Papa Bouba Diop) before limping to 0-0 draw against Uruguay (which was also the same result as when the two met in this World Cup).
Despite these results (and scoring no goals) they went into their final game knowing a 2-0 victory over Denmark would put them through to the next round.
Even a returning Zinedine Zindane (who missed the first two matches through injury) wasn’t enough to inspire France, though he did show glimpses of his brilliance.
An excellent performance by Thomas Sorensen, and goals by Stig Tofting and Jon Dahl Tomasson (who scored four in the tournament) condemned Roger Lemerre’s team to a 2-0 loss. They finished the campaign winless and goalless.
It was the worst performance by a defending champion in World Cup history and only the second time a defending champion hadn’t got out of the group. It was also the first time France had ever lost with Zidane in the starting eleven.
Denmark, on the other hand, topped the group after Senegal blew a three-goal lead against Uruguay to draw 3-3, but would eventually lose 3-0 to England in the next round.
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