It could be the worst possible preparation for the world football's most star-studded team. Less than two months before their defense of the 2022 Qatar World Cup begins against Australia on November 22, France slumped to another demoralizing defeat at the hands of aggressive opponents. 

Didier Deschamps' side, which just ended a four-game winless run by beating Austria on Thursday, reverted back to their worst selves once again with an abysmal 2-0 loss to Denmark in the Nations League on Sunday night. Kasper Dolberg and Andreas Skov Olsen both got on the scoresheet in Copenhagen to humiliate the visitors. 

It was the last game for the World Cup-bound teams and France were outplayed and outclassed throughout. The only consolation was that they narrowly avoided relegation from the top tier, having won the League A title in 2021. Les Bleus were saved by Croatia, whose 3-1 win over Austria on the same night condemned the Austrians to League B.

Nevertheless, France's poor run of form in recent months is extremely concerning. They won only one of their six group games and scored just five goals. France have already lost three competitive games in 2022. According to Opta, that is their worst tally in a calendar year. 

There were extenuating circumstances: France have been deprived of number of key players, including team captain Hugo Lloris, N'Golo Kante, Paul Pogba, Ousmane Dembele and Karim Benzema through injury.  

But it can't be used as an excuse for this lamentable performance. France still boast superstars from Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and Manchester United at their disposal. It is beyond comprehension for them to be so clueless and disorganized on the pitch.

"Tonight is a dose of reality and what will be waiting for us in two months," said Deschamps at the post-game press conference. "We had a young team and they don't have the experience of a high level... We were not aggressive enough and made several technical mistakes." 

Deschamps remained defiant in the face of their latest setback. "I'm not worried for the upcoming World Cup," he said. "Because we'll get most of our injured players back in time. We don't however think we're stronger than the others and we know it's going to be a big fight." 

Deschamps also insisted he is not concerned about Kylian Mbappe's form. The world's highest-paid player missed several glorious chances in promising positions and could not find a way past Dannish veteran goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. 

"Kylian has done a lot of good things, but he's also going on," Deschamps said. "He's one of the few players to have played 90 minutes twice in three days. He can't do everything either. That he was more decisive there three days, yes, but like the whole team. I'm not worried about Kylian." 

France will have a chance to get revenge against the Danes in the group stage of the World Cup in Qatar. But if France and Mbappe could not return to peak form in time, more heartbreaking defeats are on the cards in two months' time. 

Elsewhere, captain Virgil van Dijk headed a winner as the Netherlands beat Belgium 1-0 on Sunday to book their places in the last four of the Nations League. In the same group, Wales were relegated after a home 1-0 loss to Poland.