France approach their opening game in a state not far off crisis. Their hotel accomodation has been criticised by the French sports minister for being too luxurious, William Gallas is in a sulk because he not been made captain and Thierry Henry has confirmed he will start on the bench. Their final two warm-up games were miserable affairs – a 1-0 defeat to China and a 1-1 draw with Tunisia, from which they had to come from behind.

In the starkest possible contrast, Uruguay have arrived in South Africa with the stresses of their stuttering qualification campaign far behind them. A 4-1 victory over Israel showed that Diego Forlan is at the peak of his powers –which may be why Tottenham are interested in bringing him back to the Premier League. This was supposed to be Uruguay’s most challenging fixture but they would fancy their chances of an upset.

France appear in such a mess that they may be grateful just to qualify from their group but much the same was said about Germany in 2006 and Jurgen Klinsmann’s side hit the ground running. France have never beaten Uruguay in a World Cup and the last time they met, during France’s disastrous 2002 campaign they ground out a goalless draw. France might settle for that. Verdict: Draw.