90min

The worst World Cup teams ever

By Max Parsons

2022 hosts were one of the worst-ever World Cup teams
2022 hosts were one of the worst-ever World Cup teams / ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/GettyImages
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8. France - 2002

Youri Djorkaeff, Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, Frank Leboeuf
France were left in despair by their group-stage campaign in the 2002 World Cup / KIM JAE-HWAN/GettyImages

Hello again France, our dear old friends.

Expanding on the aforementioned 2022 disaster from entry #12, France began their World Cup defence with one of the greatest shocks in tournament history, losing 1-0 to Senegal as the late Papa Bouba Diop netted a first-half winner.

Roger Lemerre's side went on to conclude their 2002 World Cup campaign with a 0-0 draw against Uruguay and a 2-0 defeat to Denmark, ending their title defence without scoring a single goal.

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