Prediction: France vs Luxembourg

Verdict: France wins & BTTS

Best odds: 3/1

Bookmaker: ZetBet

France and Luxembourg meet in a friendly match scheduled to kick off Wednesday night at the Stade Saint-Symphonier in Metz. Les Bleus are one of the main favourites to win the European Championship, which starts on 14 June 2024 with the opening game between Germany and Scotland.

France

France is back to its glory days following a decade with below-expectations results. Although the Zidane&Henry late 90s to 2000s era is considered the best in France’s history, former teammate Didier Deschamps took Les Blues back to the top since taking charge of the national team.

Winning the 2018 World Cup by defeating Croatia in the final (4-2) was the start of a new era with many quality players available for selection. Despite making an incredible run to defend their title in Qatar, France fell short to Argentina in what was proclaimed the best World Cup Final ever.

Although Messi and Argentina emerged victorious after a heartbreaking penalty shootout, Kilian Mbappe was undoubtedly the best player of the tournament, overshadowing Messi by scoring a hat-trick. While Messi is nearing the end of his career, the French superstar is at his peak. Furthermore, despite failing to impress at club level by repeatedly failing in the Champions League, Kylian Mbappe can win his first Balon d’Or if he reaches the final stages of Euro 2024.

Making a statement in the Euro 2024 qualifications when Les Bleus topped their group undefeated, strongly indicates that France is the main candidate to win the tournament. However, despite an impressive in the qualification games, Didier Deschamp’s team surprisingly failed two friendly tests against Germany. Although the fans were disappointed to see their favourites defeated by their neighbours, the French national coach used these two games to finalise his squad for the Euros.

Team News

Although Kilian Mbappe is expected to play against Luxembourg, the French superstar was left out of the Olympic Games preliminary squad after rumours surfaced that Real Madrid will not let the striker play at the Olympics following the Euro 2024.

Furthermore, Olivier Giroud has announced his retirement from international football after the tournament in Germany, with the all-time goalscoring ace expected to make his final contribution for France. Although key figure Lucas Hernandez is out following a terrible injury suffered at his club (PSG), Aurelian Tchouameni’s recovery is on schedule with the Real Madrid superstar expected to feature for France.

However, his teammates, Ferland Mendy and Eduardo Camavinga will be given some time off to recover following the recent Champions League final.

Luxembourg

Despite making their best-ever run in the qualifications for a final tournament, Luxembourg fell short of reaching the Euro 2024. Although the visitors made a strong statement in Group J, where Portugal finished top with the maximum number of points (30), Luxembourg’s record of 5 wins, 2 draws and 3 defeats was their best-ever output in any qualifications campaign.

However, despite hoping to reach Germany this summer, a semi-final knockout game against Georgia ended the visitors’ dreams of qualifying for the Euro following a 2-0 defeat. Still, this setback was quickly forgotten as Luxembourg defeated Kazakhstan in a friendly five days later (2-1), further displaying their impressive uprise.

Although 16 defeats to France from 18 games played make Les Bleus the favourites to win, the visitors did hold France to a goalless draw in the 2018 World Cup qualifying game, a result Luc Holtz’s team will aim to repeat Wednesday night.

Team News

The visiting team is captained by German third-tier defender Laurent Jans who will be expected to start at Stade Saint-Symphorien and become his country’s all-time appearance record holder by surpassing Mario Mutsch’s 102 caps.

Key factors to consider

• France dominated their Euro 2024 group qualification games with an impeccable record of seven wins and a draw
• Les Bleus broke the record for the biggest win in a Euro campaign qualification game by destroying Gibraltar with a staggering 14-0
• Didier Deschamp’s team is seen as the favourite to win the Euro 2024 alongside England
• Luxembourg’s progress is extraordinary, going from a side brushed away in all games to a serious contender to qualify for a major tournament
• The visitors’ last performance was a 2-1 friendly game won against Kazakhstan

Conclusion

Although the visitors made obvious progress in recent years, France should have no issues getting a comfortable win. Furthermore, the game against Luxembourg will be a great opportunity for Les Bleus’ players to impress Didier Deschamps and break the ranks in the starting line-up for the Euro 2024.

Verdict: France wins & BTTS

Best odds: 3/1

Bookmaker: ZetBet