France and Netherlands will look to get their 2024 European Championship qualifiers with a bang when they meet at Stade de France on Friday.
Both sides are looking to dust themselves back up after a poor end to their World Cup when they face each other. France were among the favourites to lift the World Cup in Qatar but failed at the last hurdle to Argentina, losing on penalties after a 3-3 draw in extra time.
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Their rebuild has started, with key players like Raphael Varane and Hugo Lloris hanging up their boots. There’s also a new captain in town, with Kylian Mbappe now given the national team armband following Lloris’ retirement.
Head coach Didier Deschamps has surged the shuffle in the FA, which has seen French football federation president Nöel le Graet resign. The World Cup winner will be desperate to begin this new era with a win here over fellow Group B favourite, the Netherlands.
History places Les Bleus as the favourites for a win here, as the hosts have five wins across the previous six H2Hs against the Netherlands (L1). However, the visitors could struggle to win here and stop France from extending their current nine-game unbeaten run on home soil in Euro qualifiers (W7, D2).
Like their hosts, the Oranje also saw their World Cup journey ended by Argentina in the quarter-finals. However, the Netherlands are also rebuilding, with new coach Ronald Koeman taking over the reins after Louis van Gaal resigned after the World Cup.
The former Barcelona boss has experience in this job, having been in charge of the Dutch national team before. But he will hope to hit the ground running and extend a decent run that has seen them go unbeaten in their last 20 competitive games (W14, D6-90 minutes only).
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