France vs. Italy: Match Preview, Odds & Predictions

At Parc des Princes on Friday night, two of international football's biggest names—France and Italy—will face battle in the first match of their respective UEFA Nations League campaigns.

The Azzurri failed miserably in defending their European championship last summer. Les Bleus lost in the semi-finals to the eventual winners of Euro 2024, Spain; now, the two teams meet in Paris.

Previous Matches and head-to-head

France made it to the quarterfinals of the European Championship this year, and they were hoping to go all the way to the final thanks to an early goal from Randal Kolo Muani in their semi-final defeat to Spain. However, they could have impressed and scored just once in the whole tournament (not including set pieces or own goals).

The disappointing 2022 World Cup finalists were led by captain Kylian Mbappe, who managed only a single goal after breaking his nose in the first match against Austria. He then returned to the competition wearing a mask that hindered his performance.

Les Bleus will be led into another campaign by long-serving coach Didier Deschamps, who has once again taken heat for his cautious tactics. The Nations League is next on the schedule for this season.

In addition to winning gold worldwide in 2018, Deschamps led France to triumph in the UEFA Cup in 2021. However, that year's squad ended in third place in their group with only five points after six games.

France will not have the luxury of a repeat performance in 2024–25; the club finishing worst in each group will be immediately relegated, and the team finishing third will have to compete in a playoff to stay out of League B.

Belgium and Israel are also in Group 2. The two teams that finish first and second, respectively, will advance to the quarterfinals. The victors of those matches will meet again in June of next year to determine the champion.

Though France was let down by their Euros, Italy were just as let down. They just made it through their group stage courtesy of a last-second goal from Mattia Zaccagni against Croatia. Still, they were eliminated in the first round of the knockout tournament.

The team under Luciano Spalletti's leadership never quite clicked, so it came as little surprise when they were eliminated in the round of 16 by their Swiss neighbours, thereby ending their championship defence.

As usual, Spalletti has been reflective. He has since announced his intention to introduce fresh blood to the Italian setup while also phasing out certain long-term players.

After Roberto Mancini left after guiding the Azzurri to the first position in their most recent Nations League group and third place in the finals, Spalletti took over, and Italy went into Germany undefeated in six games. Mancini won Euro 2020.

La Nazionale will have a rough first week of the season before facing Israel next week. They will be facing teams that they have lost to in their previous three friendly matches but memorably beat in the 2006 World Cup final.

On Friday, Italy and France will resume their long-simmering rivalry at Parc des Princes for the first competitive matchup in almost 16 years.

France x Italy Team News

For this month's Nations League matches, Didier Deschamps has mostly stuck with his Euro 2024 roster, with the exception of Benjamin Pavard, an Inter Milan defender, and free agent Adrien Rabiot.

Michael Olise, a winger for Bayern Munich, scored seven goals and assisted on another two as France won silver in the Olympics, earning him his first international call-up. Manu Kone, a new acquisition for Roma, may also make his professional debut.

After Wesley Fofana of Chelsea withdrew, stating his desire to concentrate on fitness after a lengthy injury layoff, another Olympian, Loic Bade, was added to the roster.

Matteo Guendouzi, who is based in Italy, has been called in as midfield cover; Ferland Mendy has also withdrawn, and Aston Villa left-defender Lucas Digne has been brought in to replace him.

In the meanwhile, Italy will be missing Nicolo Barella (who had planned sinus surgery) and Gianluca Scamacca (who just hurt his anterior cruciate ligament).

Eight players, including Gianluca Mancini and Jorginho, were absent from Luciano Spalletti's Euros team. However, Caleb Okoli and Marco Brescianini were called up for the first time, while some players, like Destiny Udogie, Moise Kean, and Sandro Tonali, are returning.

Mateo Retegui, a striker for Atalanta BC, might start up front in a 3-4-2-1 configuration since Spalletti has stated his intention to continue with a back three going forward after his tactical tinkering in Germany.

Our predictions

France to win @ 1.66 on Sky247.ng

Italy is starting over from a lower foundation and still needs to gain skill in certain areas, while France has a rich reservoir of potential despite injuries.

The hosts should cruise to victory in the first encounter, giving the Azzurri a tough task in their following Group 2 matches.

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