Preview: Ukraine vs France – prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Friday’s World Cup Qualifying clash between Ukraine and France, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Ukraine meet France in neutral Wroclaw on Friday night in what will be the first game of their respective World Cup qualifying campaigns.

France’s involvement in the UEFA Nations League finals saw them put into one of the four-team qualifying groups, which will only take three months to settle.

Match preview

This fixture represents the start of the end for France boss Didier Deschamps, because he will not renew his contract with the national side after the conclusion of the World Cup finals in North America next summer.

It will be Deschamps last chance to add silverware to the World Cup they won in 2018, after they fell short again at the Nations League finals in June.

After coming from 2-0 down in the first leg of their quarter-final with Croatia to win on penalties, they advanced to the semi-finals, where Spain beat them 5-4 in a remarkable encounter that saw France almost claw back a four-goal deficit in the final 10 minutes.

Germany were no match for Les Bleus in the third-place playoff, as France took the bronze medal with a 2-0 win, in what was a fine response to their defensive disaster in the semi.

Despite the criticism coming Deschamps’ way, only Germany, Spain, Italy and Croatia have beaten them since the 2022 World Cup final, so there is little doubt in anyone’s mind that they will be present at the next finals in 2026.

France start their campaign with their toughest match, away to second-seeds Ukraine, albeit on neutral ground in Poland, so a win here will make them overwhelming favourites instantly to reach another major tournament.

Les Bleus have not missed a tournament since USA 94, and they have a brilliant World Cup record since then, winning it twice and reaching a further two finals, more than making up for their implosions in 2002 and 2010.

Ukraine are favourable opponents for France, because in 12 meetings, the hosts have only managed one win, and that came in the first leg of a 2014 World Cup playoff, where France won 3-0 in the second leg to turn the tie on its head, and send them to Brazil.

France went on to beat Ukraine 7-1 in a friendly in 2020, but they could not get the better of them in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, drawing both matches 1-1.

If Ukraine have any ambitions of avoiding a playoff, and qualifying automatically in first place, then they must win here, because the playoffs have been their kryptonite, losing three in four qualifying cycles since making their one and only appearance at the World Cup in 2006.

Ukraine have reached the Euros on four consecutive occasions, but it is a different story when it comes to the World Cup, where they were quarter-finalists on their only appearance, losing to eventual champions Italy.

The playoffs are not all doom and gloom though, because they did overcome Bosnia-Herzegovina to reach Euro 2024, but at the finals, they suffered the near-impossible feat of being eliminated with four points from the group stage, missing out on the top three on goal difference, with all other sides in the section also finishing on the same tally.

A 3-0 loss to Romania ended up being costly, and since that exit, form has not been great, winning just two of their six Nations League games last autumn, and even though that was just enough to finish second and secure a promotion/relegation playoff spot, they were beaten 4-3 on aggregate by Belgium, despite leading 3-1 from the first leg.

There were more mixed results for Sergiy Rebrov’s men in June, as they jetted off to Canada to face the Canucks, who beat them 4-2, as well as New Zealand, who Ukraine edged out in a 2-1 victory.

Ukraine form (all competitions):

France form (all competitions):

Team News

There are milestones in-waiting for two of Ukraine’s back four this month, because Illia Zabarnyi will win his 50th cap here, while Vitaliy Mykolenko will reach the same mark if he plays in both qualifiers this week.

The hosts are without goalkeeper Andriy Lunin due to injury though, so Anatoliy Trubin is set to deputise, while defender Oleksandr Tymchyk has also been forced to withdraw.

Georgiy Sudakov has recently moved to Benfica, and this fixture will test his big-game mettle, while Artem Dovbyk will want to prove his doubters in Rome wrong after being dropped from the Roma team at the start of the new season.

France will be without William Saliba after he picked up a muscle injury early into Arsenal’s defeat at Liverpool last weekend, joining Rayan Cherki on the sidelines, with the Manchester City man also pulling out.

Cherki has been replaced in the squad by Hugo Ekitike, who, alongside Maghnes Akliouche, could make his international debut this week.

Adrien Rabiot has retained his place in the squad despite the drama surrounding his exit from Marseille, but the likes of Warren Zaire-Emery, Randal Kolo Muani and Matteo Guendouzi have been dropped from the squad that was chosen for the Nations League finals.

Ukraine possible starting lineup:

Trubin; Konoplya, Zabarnyi, Matviienko, Mykolenko; Kaliuzhny, Zinchenko; Tsygankov, Shaparenko, Sudakov; Dovbyk

France possible starting lineup:

Maignan; Kounde, Upamecano, Konate, T Hernandez; Tchouameni, Rabiot; Olise, Dembele, Thuram; Mbappe

We say: Ukraine 1-1 France

It is certainly a challenging start for France, but even if they were only to take a point here, that will still leave them in a strong position, with wins home and away expected against both Iceland and Azerbaijan later in the section.

Ukraine held France to a draw in both of their meetings in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, and they definitely have the quality to compete here, even if their form has not been ideal in recent months.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

 

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