The Parisians find out their opponents at the World Cup

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The draw for the group stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar took place in Doha on Friday 1 April. The Parisians taking part in the tournament with their countries now know their opponents.

France and Brazil draw similar groups to 2018

World champions France are in Group D, along with Denmark, Tunisia and the winner of the intercontinental play-off between Australia or the United Arab Emirates and Peru. If either the Socceroos or the Peruvians join Group D, it will have a nice air of déjà vu about it, as in 2018 in Russia, France, Australia, Peru and Denmark faced each other at this stage of the competition.

The same goes for the Brazil of Neymar Jr and Marquinhos, who will cross paths with Switzerland and Serbia, as they did in 2018. Cameroon, who beat Algeria in the African play-offs this week, also join the Auriverde in Group G.

The Netherlands and Senegal with the hosts, Argentina in the toughest group?

Qatar is hosting and participating in its first ever World Cup. It will be a new and exciting moment for the host nation, who will face Georgino Wijnaldum and the Netherlands in Group A. Gini will also cross paths with two of his teammates, Senegal's Idrissa Gueye and Abdou Diallo, freshly crowned African champions, along with Ecuador, who will be in the opening match against Qatar.

Argentina's Leo Messi, Leandro Paredes and Angel Di Maria have been drawn in perhaps the toughest group of all, along with Poland, Mexico and Saudi Arabia. The Argentinian national team will face a team from Group D (France) in the Round of 16, which could also be reminiscent of 2018.

Germany-Spain clash, Portugal will have their work cut out

Julian Draxler and Thilo Kehrer will be the joint favourites in Group E, along with Spain, bringing us a huge match in the group stages. With Japan, and potentially Keylor Navas and his Costa Rica (if they qualify in the intercontinental play-off against New Zealand), this group also promises to be a tough one.

Achraf Hakimi's Morocco will play Belgium, Croatia and Canada. A very balanced group with an uncertain outcome. Hakimi could face a team from Group E (Germany or Spain) in the next round, which makes for a challenging journey.

Finally, Danilo Pereira and Nuno Mendes' Portugal have drawn Ghana, Uruguay and South Korea in Group H, a far from easy group for our two Parisians who will have to fight hard before potentially facing one of the teams in Group G (Brazil) in the round of 16.