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Published on Sep, 09 2024
France and Belgium are back in action on Monday as both meet in the UEFA Nations League just months after their UEFA Euro 2024 Round of 16 matchup. These two rival neighbors have made differing starts to their League A Group 4 campaigns with Les Bleus going down 3-1 to Italy in Paris while the Red Devils beat Israel by the same score in Hungary. Didier Deschamps is under pressure to start getting the best out of his talented attacking lineup which includes captain Kylian Mbappe.
Bradley Barcola might have scored the fastest ever French goal at international level but he and his teammates suffered a humbling defeat at Parc des Princes to lose to the Azzurri on home soil for the first time in 70 years. A double setback for Deschamps is already unthinkable and especially not against the Belgians who are desperate for revenge after FIFA 2018 World Cup, 2021 Nations League and now 2024 Euro heartbreak against their bitter neighbors. Les Bleus already need to up their game but lost 2-0 to Germany last time they played at Groupama Stadium in Lyon and were below-par in their last UNL campaign.
Domenico Tedesco's side are moving towards the future without the likes of Thibaut Courtois and Jan Vertonghen, but with skipper Kevin De Bruyne. Tedesco and his players are looking to build on that success and take an option on a top two spot before turning their sights towards the 2026 World Cup. It has been a good start to the new Nations League format for Belgium with a 3-1 win over Israel in Hungary with De Bruyne scoring twice and Youri Tielemans also notching a goal.
Here's our storylines, how you can watch the match and more
Italy and Belgium lead the way so far with 3-1 wins to their names which means that France face an uphill challenge to wrest back control of the group. Israel were always expected to fight to avoid finishing bottom of the quartet, but Les Bleus cannot afford to be down there with them given that so many questions are now being asked of Deschamps. The Belgians would love to exact revenge on the French but also keep up with the Italians as both could potentially pull away with wins on Monday.
France: Michael Olise started over Ousmane Dembele while Deschamps also introduced Barcola who now could start again. Adrien Rabiot and Benjamin Pavard were dropped and Jules Kounde as well as Dayot Upamecano could start. Specualtion suggests that Mbappe might not start this one so Marcus Thuram or Randal Kolo Muani could come in which could also see the captaincy change hands.
Possible France XI: Maignan; Kounde, Saliba, Konate, T. Hernandez; Kante, Zaire-Emery; Dembele, Griezmann, Barcola; Mbappe.
Belgium: Courtois has made himself unavailable to Tedesco while Romelu Lukaku is also missing and Vertonghen has retired internationally. Leandro Trossard was not picked and Maxim De Cuyper, Arne Engels and Julien Duranville all got valuable minutes against Israel. Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku should back up lone frontman Lois Openda here.
Possible Belgium XI: Casteels; Castagne, Faes, Theate, De Cuyper; Onana, Tielemans; Bakayoko, De Bruyne, Doku; Openda.
France need a win so expect to see something similar to the Euro 2024 offering which saw them squeeze past Belgium by a single goal. Pick: France 1, Belgium 0.
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