France sets target
World champions France touched down in Qatar on Thursday night, seeking to become the first team to retain the World Cup since Brazil in 1962.
The side contained 10 members of the 2018 title-winning squad return, including captain Hugo Lloris, Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann.
But the defending champions, grouped with Australia, Denmark and Tunisia, are without firstchoice midfield pair Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante.
Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema, who has missed a series of games for Real Madrid this season because of injury, is set for his first World Cup appearance since 2014.
France skipper Lloris has confirmed that he will not join other European national team captains in wearing an anti-discrimination armband during the World Cup in Qatar.
“I have been quite clear about this and I don’t want to add anything else,” Lloris said in an interview.
He said he wanted to “show respect” to host nation Qatar.
“When we welcome foreign visitors to France we often would like them to respect our rules and our culture. I will do the same when I go to Qatar,” he said.
His comments echoed those made by French Football Federation President Noel Le Graet, who has opposed the initiative.
Lloris, who starred in the French team that won the World Cup in Russia four years ago, admitted that he wanted the focus to remain on football.
Fans wait for Messi
Meanwhile, Indian drums drowned out Argentina’s diehard fans as hundreds waited hours to get a glimpse of a bus carrying Lionel Messi outside his World Cup team base in Qatar.
The drummers and Indian beat dancers again showed how Qatar 2022 is going to be a different experience for players and visiting fans.
Supporters from the subcontinent had outnumbered England fans when they greeted Harry Kane’s side on Tuesday.
A crowd of more than 500 that had waited to the early morning to see the arrival of their heroes was split evenly between Argentina’s Indian fans and those from the South American country, many of whom have spent thousands of dollars to get to the World Cup.
The team flew in early yesterday from Abu Dhabi, where they beat United Arab Emirates 5-0 in their final World Cup warm-up on Wednesday night with Messi, 35, scoring his 91st international goal.
One of the favourites going into this year’s World Cup, the South Americans will begin their campaign on Tuesday against Saudi Arabia in Group C, which also includes Mexico and Poland.
Members of the Argentina Fans in Qatar club, who claim more than 5000 members, brought drums decorated with “Leo” Messi’s portrait to the team base at Qatar University.
“If this is going to be Leo’s last World Cup there can be no better place for it,” said Munish Sharma who recalled seeing Messi score the winning goal when Argentina beat Brazil 1-0 in a friendly match in Doha in 2010.