Les Bleus made the perfect start against Italy last time out as they took the lead after just 13 seconds - the fastest goal in French history - at the Parc des Princes through Bradley Barcola, but went on to suffer their first loss to Italy in Paris for 70 years after goals from Federico Dimarco, Davide Frattesi and Giacomo Raspadori plus an inspired display from Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali in his first international appearance since serving a 10-month ban for breaching betting rules.
It was a hugely disappointing performance and result for Didier Deschamps, whose much-fancied team largely flattered to deceive throughout Euro 2024 and found goals very hard to come by despite their array of attacking riches as they fell to eventual winners Spain in the semi-finals.
Improvement is needed to avoid a potential third successive loss in Lyon tonight, with Belgium high on confidence after beginning their Nations League Group A2 campaign with a 3-1 win over Israel on Friday night.
Manchester City captain Kevin De Bruyne netted twice in a game played behind closed doors in Hungary, with Aston Villa’s Youri Tielemans also on target to start bouncing back from a somewhat torrid European Championship campaign under Domenico Tedesco in which they were booed by their own fans before Jan Vertonghen’s late own goal saw them fall to France in the last 16 in Dusseldorf.
Date, kick-off time and venue
France vs Belgium is scheduled for a 7:45pm BST kick-off today, Monday September 9, 2024.
The match will take place at Groupama Stadium in Lyon.
Where to watch France vs Belgium
TV channel: The game is not being broadcast live on TV in the UK.
Live stream: However, it is available to watch live online for free courtesy of the Viaplay International YouTube channel.
Live blog: You can follow all the action this evening via Standard Sport’s live blog.
Sidelined: Warren Zaire-Emery has withdrawn from the France squad before facing Belgium (REUTERS)
Let’s hope this game brings decidedly more entertainment than the Euro 2024 last-16 tie between these two sides back in July.
Both France and Belgium flattered to deceive that day in Dusseldorf and indeed throughout the tournament as a whole, despite both having no shortage of firepower and Deschamps’ men eventually reaching the last four.
Belgium are something of a team in transition with their much-hyped ‘golden generation’ now over, but they still have plenty of star power including De Bruyne, Manchester City team-mate Jeremy Doku and Villa’s Amadou Onana.
Tough watch: There wasn’t much to choose between France and Belgium in their last-16 tie at Euro 2024 (Getty Images)
A short trip to France will hold no fears for Tedesco’s side after they brushed aside Israel, though you get the sense that Les Bleus will be extremely motivated to get back to winning ways after suffering back-to-back competitive losses for the first time in nine years.
France to win, 2-1.
Head to head (h2h) history and results
Before their last-16 tie at Euro 2024, France and Belgium had met only once since Les Bleus won a tense World Cup semi-final in Russia in 2018 - a five-goal Nations League semi-final thriller in October 2021 in which Theo Hernandez notched a last-gasp winner after France had fought back from 2-0 down.
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