Belgium hopes to avoid a fourth straight defeat against France as they welcome them in their second home match of the 2024/25 Nations League season.
BEL vs FRA Match Details
Date: Monday, 14 October 2024 / Tuesday, 15 October 2024
Time: 21:00 (CET), 00:30 (IST)
Venue: King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels
BEL vs FRA Match Preview
Belgium will face France for the third time in their last five matches, having suffered defeat in the previous two without netting a goal and conceding three. The Red Devils lost the reverse fixture in the Nations League this season 2-0, after getting eliminated by the same opposition in the last-16 stage of the Euros this summer, which erased the positivity from the 3-1 win against Israel to start the tournament. Having not won this fixture since 2015, Belgium are under huge pressure to deliver as a defeat might end their chance of moving into the inaugural quarterfinal stage of the competition. Before this fixture, the side played out a 2-2 draw against a rejuvenated Italy team sitting at the top of their group coming from two goals behind. Arsenal man Leanardro Trossard became the star player of the evening assisting left-back Maxim De Cuyper before scoring himself on the hour-mark to rescue a point against the 10-man hosts. They will play the Azzurri again next month in a crunching schedule that needs to be managed carefully.
After their semi-final exit from the Euros at the hands of eventual winners Spain, France’s Nations League campaign started on a disappointing note losing 3-1 to Italy despite scoring within 12 seconds of the match. However, the defeat was long forgotten as Les Bleus bounced back strongly with a 2-0 home win over Belgium and a 4-1 thrashing of Israel last week. The 2021 Nations League winners will meet the Red Devils again for the reverse clash in the second consecutive away match, hoping to carry on their momentum. France had a forgetful title defence in the Nations League last time finishing third with just five points accumulated. They have bettered the tally in three matches this time, placed second and should be confident of a top-two finish to book their berth in the quarterfinals. Having dominated this fixture in the last four meetings including in the semifinal win of their 2018 World Cup triumph makes Didier Deschamps’s slight favourites for this fixture. However, becoming complacent will allow the opponents in third to cover the two-point deficit.
BEL vs FRA Recent Form (all competitions)
BEL: DLWLD
FRA: DLLWW
BEL vs FRA Recent Form (Nations League)
BEL: WLWLD
FRA: WLLWW
BEL vs FRA Recent Form (Nations League 2024-25)
BEL: WLD
FRA: LWW
BEL vs FRA Squad
Belgium
Goalkeepers: Koen Casteels, Ortwin De Wolf, Maarten Vandevoordt
Defenders: Zeno Debast, Arthur Theate, Wout Faes, Maxim De Cuyper, Koni De Winter, Matte Smets, Sebastiaan Bornauw, Timothy Castagne
Midfielders: Aster Vranckx, Youri Tielemans, Charles De Ketelaere, Orel Mangala, Arne Engels, Malick Fofana
Forwards: Jérémy Doku, Loïs Openda, Leandro Trossard, Dodi Lukebakio, Johan Bakayoko, Cyril Ngonge
France
Goalkeepers: Alphonse Areola, Mike Maignan, Brice Samba
Defenders: Jonathan Clauss, Lucas Digne, Wesley Fofana, Theo Hernandez, Ibrahima Konate, Jules Kounde, William Saliba, Dayot Upamecano
Midfielders: Eduardo Camavinga, Youssouf Fofana, Matteo Guendouzi, Manu Kone, Aurelien Tchouameni, Warren Zaire-Emery
Forwards: Bradley Barcola, Ousmane Dembele, Randal Kolo Muani, Christopher Nkunku, Michael Olise, Marcus Thuram
BEL vs FRA Team News
Belgium have not called up key stars of their ‘golden era’ with Romelu Lukaku continuing to be overlooked despite his fine form with Napoli and Kevin De Bruyne also remaining absent. Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is injured but would not have been called up due to his rift with manager Domenico Tedesco while backup shot-stopper Matz Sels pulled out late with a knock.
France decided to go without Kylian Mbappe after he was rushed back from his injury by Real Madrid for their Champions League affair against Lille so his ex-PSG teammate Randal Kolo Muani will lead the line. Antoine Griezmann’s surprise international retirement after he was benched in the defeat to Italy, N'Golo Kante’s injury and Adrien Rabiot's lack of game-time at his club Marseille make them the other significant omissions from the squad.
BEL vs FRA Predicted Lineups
Belgium
Casteels; Castagne, Debast, Faes, Theate, De Cuyper; Tielemans, Mangala; Trossard, Openda, Doku
France
Maignan; Kounde, Konate, Saliba, T Hernandez; Tchouameni, Camavinga, Guendouzi; Olise, Kolo Muani, Barcola
BEL vs FRA head-to-head
Played - 28
BEL won - 30
Drawn - 19
FRA won - 28
BEL vs FRA Dream11 Top picks
Captain Pick: Leandro Trossard
Vice-captain Picks: Jérémy Doku, Kolo Muani
BEL vs FRA Dream11 Team Suggestion
GK: Maignan (Cr - 8)
DEF: Castagne (Cr - 8), Kounde (Cr - 8.5), Hernandez (Cr - 9)
MID: Olise (Cr -7), Tielemans (Cr - 7.5), Camavinga (Cr - 8), Doku (Cr - 9)
FW: Trossard (Cr - 9), Openda (Cr - 8.5), Barcola (Cr - 7.5)
Vice-captain: Jérémy Doku
Captain: Leandro Trossard
Belgium vs France Match Prediction
Belgium and France look set teams to win this competition but the Red Devil’s shaky defence and lack of experienced campaigners could cost them. Les Bleus are not in great form either but they have enough quality in depth to come on top. We predict a 2-1 win for the visitors.
