France vs Belgium Preview & Prediction | UEFA EURO 2024 | Round of 16

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Arguably the stand-out Round of 16 tie on paper sees France and Belgium go head-to-head in Dusseldorf after both teams surprisingly failed to win their respective groups.

KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Monday 1st July, 2024 - UK – 5:00pm / US ET – 12:00pm / US PT – 9:00am

HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – ITV / US – FOX

HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – ITVX / US –VIX

FRANCE PREVIEW: BEING HELD BY ELIMINATED POLAND FORCES LES BLEUS INTO TOUGH SIDE OF THE DRAW

Taking on a Poland side, already out of EURO 2024 after losing their opening two group matches, many understandably thought France would breeze through this game with Didier Deschamps’ side needing victory to ensure top spot in Group D. But Les Bleus struggled to break down their opponents, with a Kylian Mbappe penalty eventually opening the scoring in the second half.

Having finally got their goal, you would be forgiven for thinking that would be game over. However, France were pegged back in surprising fashion, conceding a penalty of their own which Robert Lewandowski converted for Poland. It eventually finished 1-1, France’s second consecutive draw and combined with Austria win over Netherlands, left Deschamps’ men settling for second-place.

BELGIUM PREVIEW: FAILURE TO BEAT UKRAINE SETS UP DIFFICULT FRENCH SHOWDOWN

Belgium knew that victory over Ukraine in their third EURO 2024 fixture would see them finish top of Group E, avoiding plenty of formidable opponents in the knockout stage on the other side of the bracket. However, a lack of potency saw them fail to score for the second time in the competition, eventually drawing 0-0 and allowing Romania to win the group.

Such a result was met by fierce boos by Belgium fans in the group, furious at their side’s lack of attacking imagination under Domenico Tedesco and the retention of possession by the corner flag late in play as the Red Devils prioritised not conceding a goal, which would’ve seen them knocked out of the tournament. However, such an outcome has led to them meeting France, with a potential quarter-final tie with former boss Roberto Martinez’s Portugal on the table.

FRANCE TEAM NEWS: GRIEZMANN SET FOR RETURN TO STARTING LINE-UP

Deschamps faces plenty of big decisions following their Poland draw. After being left on the bench in that game with a knock, Antoine Griezmann should be back in from the start, whilst Kylian Mbappe could play on the left-side of a front three with the all-time record goalscorer Olivier Giroud brought in to give France a focal point up top.

PREDICTED XI (4-3-3): Maignan; Kounde, Upamecano, Saliba, Hernandez; Kante, Tchouameni, Rabiot; Griezmann, Giroud, Mbappe

UNAVAILABLE:

QUESTIONABLE:

BELGIUM TEAM NEWS: LUKEBAKIO BACK FROM SUSPENSION

After missing the draw against Ukraine through suspension, attacking winger Dodi Lukebakio should immediately return to Belgium’s starting line-up as Tedesco likely looks to replicate their attacking success vs Romania in the group stage, by fielding the same side who won 2-0 on that occasion with Jeremy Doku preferred over Leandro Trossard on the left wing.

PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Casteels; Castagne, Faes, Vertonghen, Theate; Tielemans, Onana; Lukebakio, De Bruyne, Doku; Lukaku

UNAVAILABLE:

QUESTIONABLE:

KEY STATS

• France have won the last two meetings between these two teams. W 3-2 UEFA Nations League semi-finals (2021) and W 1-0 World Cup semi-finals (2018). Belgium lead the overall head-to-head record 30-26 with 19 drawn matches.
• France defeated Belgium 5-0 in the group stage at EURO 1984 in their only previous EURO final tournament encounter.
• Excluding penalty shoot-outs, France have lost only one of their last 14 EURO matches (W7 D6).
• France have drawn five of their last six EURO matches (W1).
• Excluding penalty shoot-outs, France have not lost any of their last 15 competitive matches (W11 D4).
• Seven of France’s last 14 EURO knockout round matches required extra-time.
• France have won one and lost one of their previous two EURO round of 16 ties: W 2-1 vs Republic of Ireland (EURO 2016) and L 5-4 on penalties vs Switzerland after a 3-3 draw (EURO 2020).
• Prior to EURO 2024, Antoine Griezmann has scored five goals in the EURO knockout rounds, this is more than any other player in the history of the tournament.
• Belgium have won their previous two EURO round of 16 ties without conceding a goal: W 4-0 vs Hungary (EURO 2016) and W 1-0 vs Portugal (EURO 2020).
• Belgium have lost only one of their last 18 international matches (W11 D6).
• Belgium have kept eight clean sheets in their last 12 EURO matches.
• Belgium have never played extra-time in a EURO match.
• A total of 21 goals were scored in Belgium’s previous seven EURO knockout round matches.

FRANCE VS BELGIUM PREDICTION

Two sides who look incredibly strong on paper, but have struggled to put the ball in the net so far at EURO 2024, which leads us to believe that we could be in for a tense and tight encounter, even with the likes of Mbappe and De Bruyne on the pitch. Both these teams are averaging less than a goal per game and with the pressure even higher in the Round of 16, this may have adverse effect on this one as an overall spectacle.

Although France and Belgium should create openings and big chances for themselves, each have missed plenty of these opportunities across the group stage and that could well continue here. When taking this into account, the shrewd play is backing under 2.5 goals to be scored between these two over the course of 90 minutes, regardless of who comes out on top.

FRANCE VS BELGIUM TIP: UNDER 2.5 GOALS