On Monday evening, the French national team will face Iraq in their second group stage match of the World Cup. Iraq is widely regarded as the weakest side in Group I. However, Didier Deschamps has issued a warning to his players.
“Does Iraq mean anything to you? Don’t think of them as a weak team, because they’re not, I assure you. Do you know Bolivia? A good team from South America. They lost there in Mexico (referring to Iraq’s 2-1 victory over Bolivia in the final playoff match for the 2026 World Cup).”
Deschamps continued in the same vein:
“Do you know Spain? It was a warm-up match, but they still managed to draw with Spain. Against Norway, they held their own until the 75th minute! Let no one think this will be easy just because we are the French team… Maybe other teams think that way. Big teams who have played against sides weaker than Iraq and say, ‘Anyway, we’ll succeed sooner or later.’ But those big teams didn’t manage it, and I don’t want that to happen to us.”
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