France take on the visitors Netherlands in the round 1 match of UEFA Euro 2024 qualification. The match will be played on Friday, February 24th at Stade de France (Paris - Saint-Denis).
Recently, France has mostly been playing successfully. Yes, there was an exception in the form of a failure at Euro 2020. In Qatar, the "roosters of Gaul", despite a number of personnel problems, were very close to a new triumph. The French reached the final on merit, where they came back from 0-2 in regulation time and tied 3-3 thanks to a penalty in the 118th minute. But the team's evil genius turned out to be Emiliano Martinez. The Argentine goalkeeper blocked Kolo-Muani's shot with his foot in the final seconds of extra time, and then won the penalty shootout for Messi and company. However, it is clear why Deschamps remained in his position once again and is starting a new cycle. Yes, there are changes, with Benzema (with scandal!), Lloris, and unexpectedly, Varane leaving. But overall, this is a quite familiar squad led by Mbappe.
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The Netherlands have had a difficult period, not the first one, with failure at Euro and weak results in qualification. But then there was the return of Van Gaal. He did a great job. First, he had enough of the remaining qualification cycle to secure the right to go to the World Cup directly, finishing in 1st place in the group. Then the Dutch managed to win their Nations League group, against such opponents as Belgium, Poland, and Wales. And there were 5 wins and a draw where they came back from 0-2 in 6 matches! And in Qatar, the team played roughly the same way as France. They played well in the group stage (2-0 against Senegal and Qatar with a draw against Ecuador), and without problems, they beat the USA 3-1. But then came Argentina. The Netherlands also came back from a 2-goal deficit, thanks to a double by Weghorst, just like the future finalist. But then there were penalties, and another success for Emiliano Martinez. After that, the age-old Louis left his post. But they found him a potentially better successor - Koeman. Ronald recently held this position successfully, until he was lured away to Barcelona.
The French team has won 5 consecutive head-to-head matches between 2014 and 2018. However, the last match was won by the Dutch team. Experts believe that the hosts will be able to win this time. But the Dutch team is capable of creating problems for their opponents, even in Paris, especially through their activity on the away field. So, we believe that the result will be with over 2.5 scored goals.
Prediction for the match: Over 2.5 scored goals.
