Defender Andreas Christensen has become the first Barcelona player to bow out of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar following Denmark’s 0-1 defeat against Australia.

Slotted in Group D alongside defending champions France, Australia and Tunisia, Denmark’s world cup campaign started with a 0-0 against the African side followed by a narrow 1-2 defeat at hands of France. They finished off their campaign without a win in the group stage after a 0-1 defeat against Australia.

Interestingly enough, Kasper Hjulmand’s men had played France only a couple of months back on Matchday 6 of the UEFA Nations League. On September 26, goals from Kasper Dolberg and Andreas Skov Olsen had guided them to a 2-0 win over the world champions.

Furthermore, this wasn’t the only time Denmark had gotten better of France in the Nations League. On Matchday 1 of the competition on June 4, a brace from Andreas Cornelius helped his side beat France 2-1.

Meanwhile, following the Australia defeat, a certain Andreas Christensen has become the first casualty from FC Barcelona to bow out of the competition.

It must be noted that after Christensen’s elimination, Barcelona still have as many as 15 players active at the world event. Of those 15 players, the likes of Frenkie de Jong, Memphis Depay, Jules Kounde, Ousmane Dembele and Raphinha have already qualified for the next round.

On the other hand, Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Germany), Robert Lewandowski (Poland), Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Ansu Fati, Eric García, Gavi, Pedri, Ferran Torres (Spain) and Ronald Araujo (Uruguay) are still fighting to qualify.

Of all the teams that have still not qualified, Spain have the best chance mostly because they are at the top of their group while Germany, who are in the same group, are on the verge of elimination as they are still without a win.

Source: barcauniversal