France made their Euro 2024 qualifying process look very easy, they were matched in Group B with the Netherlands, Greece, Republic of Ireland and Gibraltar, just like the joint tournament sports betting favourites England, France also ended their campaign unbeaten, winning seven of their eight games, conceding just three goals in the process, two of which came in their final group game against Greece.
Outright Winner - France
Les Bleus are still waiting for confirmation of their final group stage opponents, so far, they’ve been drawn with the Netherlands and Austria in Group D, the final team will be revealed after the Path A Play-off fixtures have been played, either Wales, Finland, Poland or Estonia will be the final opponents.
Didier Deschamps side will be confident of progressing through Group D, given their toughest opponents is likely to be the Netherlands, a team the blues have already beaten twice in the original qualifying group stage campaign.
Predictions For France In Euro 2024
France are currently priced at 7/2 in the latest football betting to win the tournament, joint favourites with England and not many people can argue against that. Having reached back-to-back World Cup finals, they now have a chance to end a 24-year wait and crown themselves champions of Europe.
France will want to make up for their Euro 2020 performance, they topped Group F with only one win, albeit they were up against Germany and Portugal, but they were eliminated in the next round, with Switzerland beating them 5-4 on penalties, a Kylian Mbappe missed penalty in the shootout sent the Blues packing.
2022 was a much better year for France, they once again topped their group in the Qatar World Cup, which included Australia, Tunisia and Denmark. Deschamps men then brushed aside Poland 3-1 in the round of 16, before the big clash with England.
France won the quarter-final game against the Three Lions 2-1, Harry Kane missed a penalty which could have potentially changed the outcome of the game, but France got the job done and with many thinking the two nations could meet each other again in the latter stages of this competition, that 2-1 result might just give France that extra psychological boost.
The victory over England moved the blues into a semi-final clash against a tournament surprise package in Morocco, the game went in the French’s favour, setting up a mouth-watering World Cup final against Argentina.
The final in Lusail was brilliant, 3-3 after extra time thanks to an Mbappe hat-trick, with Argentina taking it 4-2 on penalties, a football game that will go down as a real classic and one of the highlights of the competition. It denied France back-to-back World Cup wins, it just demonstrates the brilliant job that Didier Deschamps has done with this team.
For me, the two best nations in Europe at the moment are France and England, it’s understandable why so many people are struggling to split the two.
Les Bleus will feel that they have a slight advantage over England, the fact they’ve actually been winning major tournaments, as mentioned in my England Euro 2024 Preview, we always hype the Three Lions up around these competitions and ultimately, they just haven’t delivered but France have and they’ll be confident of doing so again in Germany this summer.
Predicting The France Euro 2024 Squad
We know about the quality that Didier Dechamps has to choose from and at the time of writing, here is who is expected to be heading to the Euros for Les Bleus.
Goalkeepers:
Brice Samba of Lens, Mike Maignan of AC Milan and Alphonse Areola of West Ham United look to be the three goalkeepers of choice for Diddier Deschamps.
Maignan looks to be the favourite to start for France, having started in eight of their last ten games since the 2022 World Cup.
Defenders:
Premier League duo Ibrahima Konate and William Saliba will both be on the plane to Germany after their strong seasons, they'll be joined by Jules Kounde, Dayot Upamecano, Jonathan Clauss, Benjamin Pavard, Champions League winner Ferland Mendy and the Hernandez brothers, Lucas and Theo.
Midfielders:
The big surprise following Dider Deschamps squad announcement was the inclusion of N'Golo Kante. The Real Madrid young duo of Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni will also be in the French squad along with Adrien Rabiot of Juventus, the talented Warren Zaire-Emery from PSG and Youssouf Forfana of Monaco.
Forwards:
For me, this French attacking force is up there with the best, Oliver Giroud will be needed for his experience, Kylian Mbappe will be looking to make another big statement before his move to Real Madrid, his former PSG teammates Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola and Randal Kolo Muani also make the squad.
Antoine Griezmann always comes alive in major tournaments, Whilst Deschamps also calls on Marcus Thuram and Kingsley Koman.
France Chances To Win Euro 2024
Les Bleus will be strong favourites in Euro 2024 predictions when they make their tournament debut against Austria on Monday 17th June in Dusseldorf, before meeting the Netherlands on Friday 21st June and then finishing their group stage campaign on the 25th June against Play-off Path A winner.
Group D Betting - France
France will take confidence from their recent performances in major tournaments, they’ve got a real strong squad and a fantastic manager at the helm, 7/2 looks like a good price for a team you’d expect to make it to the latter stages.
*Credit for the photos in this article belongs to Alamy*
