Philippe Folgado // Photo credit: THOMAS LOHNES / GETTY IMAGES EUROPE / Getty Images via AFP
The Blues avoided the worst. Unlike Euro 2021 where France found itself in the group of death (with Germany, Portugal and Hungary), Didier Deschamps’ men inherit a group within their reach for the group stage of the next Euro. In search of a third European coronation, Kylian Mbappé’s teammates will face Austria, the Netherlands and Poland, who qualified on Tuesday evening in the play-offs. Last December 2, the French coach already assured that this group was “less worse than in 2021”, but which remains “dense and difficult”. But is this group really that “solid”?
The Austrians, “never easy to play them”
For their first match, on June 17, the Blues will face Austria, an unprecedented confrontation in the history of continental competition. During the qualifying phase, Ralf Rangnick’s men finished second in their group, a small point behind Belgium. Austria is an opponent that the Blues faced for the last time during the 2022 Nations League. This selection was able to stand up to the 2018 world champions in the first leg by obtaining a draw (1-1) before France won in the return match (2-0).
“It’s not easy to play them,” confides Didier Deschamps. Especially since “the Austrians are progressing” and several team executives play in the biggest European clubs, such as Marko Arnautovic at Inter Milan, Marcel Sabitzer at Borussia Dortmund or Konrad Laimer who plays for Bayern Munich. But there will be a major absentee from the Austrian side: the captain, David Alaba. The Real Madrid defender is not expected to recover from his rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee suffered on December 17. A loss that is difficult to make up for for the Austrian coach.
The Netherlands, a well-known opponent of the Blues
The Netherlands and its coach, Ronald Koeman, have a clear objective in 2024: to be European champion. A coronation that has eluded them since 1988. But for that, they will have to get out of the groups and face the French team again, on June 21. The two nations were in the same group during the qualifying phase for the Euro. Antoine Griezmann’s teammates easily won at the Stade de France, 4-0 in the first leg, before mastering their subject, 2-1 in the return match. Victories that count, but the French coach prefers to remain vigilant: “It went very well for us, but I don’t forget that they were missing several important players each time.”
And there is reason to be cautious when we observe the squad of this Dutch team which has players of great renown: like Virgil Van Dijk, Memphis Depay, Frenkie de Jong or even the nugget loaned by Paris Saint- Germain at RB Leipzig, Xavi Simons. As Didier Deschamps himself says: “All in all, the Netherlands are still one of the best European nations”.
In addition, a statistic can lead us to fear the worst for the France team. The Blues remain on two consecutive defeats at the Euro against the Netherlands: 3-2 in 2000 and 4-1 in 2008, each time during the group stage.
A Polish team which gave the Blues a cold sweat in Qatar
By beating Wales this Tuesday on penalties, Poland qualified for the group stage of the Euro for the fifth time in its history, but the journey will have been difficult to get there. The defeats against Moldova and Albania precipitated the dismissal of coach Fernando Santos, who arrived after the 2022 World Cup. His replacement, Michal Probierz, was able to re-mobilize this team which finally won third place in its group, synonymous with qualification. for dams.
On June 25, Poland and France will face each other for the first time in the Euro. Their last confrontation took place in the round of 16 of the World Cup in Qatar. A match which had been undecided for a long time with clear opportunities for the Poles. But the Blues finally won 3 goals to 1. On paper, France is the favorite, but be careful with this nation which remains undefeated since the arrival of its new coach and which is capable of causing problems for any team. team during major competitions.