The first ever winter World Cup begins on 20 November, as host nation Qatar take on Ecuador to kickstart the road to the final on 18 December.
France are out to defend the title that they won in Russia in 2018, though a recent trend has seen the winners of the two previous world championships bow out in the group stage of the following edition of the tournament. Those teams were Spain, who triumphed for the first time in 2010 and disappointed four years later, and Germany, who claimed their fourth title in 2014 only to fall at the first hurdle in 2018.
