INCHEON, South Korea -- France, the holder and pundits' favorite to repeat its success of four years ago, was knocked out of the World Cup on Tuesday, losing 2-0 to a battling Danish side.
Despite the return of talismanic midfielder Zinedine Zidane, utter control of large parts of the game and numerous scoring opportunities, the French could not break down stubborn Danish resistance, earning them the dubious honor of becoming the first defending champions to fail to advance beyond the first round of a World Cup.
And for a country with a much-vaunted attack, France's forwards were surprisingly toothless at this tournament. In games against Senegal, Uruguay and now Denmark they failed to score a single goal.