World Cup runner-up France will face Germany in a friendly next March as part of its European Championship preparations.
Coach Didier Deschamps’ side take on Julian Nagelsmann’s struggling Germany team on March 23 at Lyon’s Groupama Stadium in its first friendly match leading up to Euro 2024, which will be hosted by Germany from June 14-July 14.
Germany’s 2-0 loss to Austria last month capped a year of bad results, with Germany having lost six of the 11 games it played and winning just three. One of those, however, was a 2-1 friendly win over France in Dortmund in September under caretaker coach Rudi Völler.
Of the teams who beat Germany — Belgium, Poland, Colombia, Japan, Turkey and Austria — only Belgium is ranked in the top 10 in the world.
By contrast, free-scoring France coasted into Euro 2024 on the back of seven wins and a draw in qualifying, scoring 29 goals and conceding only three. France routed Gibraltar 14-0 along the way for a for record win, while star striker Kylian Mbappe led Les Bleus with nine goals in qualifying.
Germany also confirmed a friendly for March 26 against the Netherlands in Frankfurt. The Dutch team lost twice to France in European Championship qualifying this year but finished the year with three consecutive wins without conceding a goal.
“Two tradition-rich duels against big soccer nations are the perfect way to start the European Championship year,” Nagelsmann said in a statement.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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