Prediction: France vs Ukraine

Prediction: France to win 3-0

Best Odds: 6/1

Bookmaker: Betfair

France and Ukraine will face each other in their opening 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign this week. Les Bleus and the Yellow and Blue will lock horns with each other at Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Wednesday. The Group D game is slated to kick off at 7:45pm UK time.

France

France have one of the best and strongest teams in Europe and are among the favourites for the European Championship in the summer of 2021. Didier Deschamps’s side have some of the best players in the world. Paul Pogba, Hugo Lloris, Raphael Varane, N’Golo Kante, Kingsley Coman and Kylian Mbappe are some of the world-class footballers in the current team

Drawn against Finland, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine, France will be confident of getting the job done with ease and booking their place in the 2022 World Cup finals in no time. Ukraine are likely to be the strongest opponents for France, but it is hard to see Deschamps’s side slip up.

Team News:

Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Hugo Lloris should keep his place between the posts for France. Pogba is likely to start in midfield as well. Mbappe could be left out of the starting lineup after suffering a minor knock against Lyon at the weekend.

Ukraine

Ukraine have not had the best of times in recent months and will not find it easy to negotiate the 2022 World Cup Group D qualifying. Andriy Shevchenko’s side were relegated to League B at the end of the 2020-21 Nations league and lost all three of matches in November 2020. It is clear that The Yellow and Blue need to step up their game in order to qualify for the World Cup finals.

France are the clear favourites in the group and should be able to win it with ease. With Finland and Bosnia and Herzegovina the other two teams in Group D, Ukraine should feel confident of finishing second and clinching the runners-up spot.

Team News:

Viktor Tsygankov and Taras Stepanenko are injured and are not part of the squad. Andriy Yarmolenko, though, has been called up, but it remains to be seen if the West Ham United star starts against France.

Key Factors to Consider

• France have won four of their last six matches, drawing one and losing the other.
• Ukraine have lost five of their last six matches, winning the other.
• France hammers Ukraine 7-1 last year.
• Ukraine have played in the World Cup finals just once, back in 2006 when they reached the quarter-finals.
• France defeated Croatia in the final of the World Cup in 2018.

Conclusion

Ukraine are unlikely to pose too much of a risk to France, who should pick up all three points without too much of a problem and begin their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign on a positive note.

Prediction: France to win 3-0

Best Odds: 6/1

Bookmaker: Betfair