This Friday, the French national team will face Belgium in the Nations League at 8:45 PM CET at the King Baudouin Stadium. Ahead of the match, Le Parisien and L’Équipe have attempted to predict the lineups that French manager Zinedine Zidane and his counterpart Mark van Bommel will field. The match involves four Paris Saint-Germain players: three Frenchmen—Désiré Doué, Maghnes Akliouche, and Ousmane Dembélé—and one Belgian, Mika Godts. Godts and Doué are expected to start.
Belgium –
Le Parisien (4-2-3-1) –
De Ketelaere
Godts – De Bruyne – Lukebakio
Raskin – Tielemans
Seys – Mechele – Ngoy – Castagne
Lammens.
L’Equipe (4-3-3) –
Godts – De Ketelaere – Lukebakio
Tielemans – Raskin – De Bruyne
Seys – Mechele – Ngoy – Castagne
Lammens.
France –
Le Parisien (4-3-3) –
Barcola – Doué – Olise
Rabiot – Camavinga – Cherki
Truffert – Lacroix – Upamecano – Koundé
Maignan.
L’Equipe (4-3-3) –
Barcola – Lepaul – Doué
Rabiot – Da Cunha – Camavinga
Diouf – Jacquet – Upamecano – Kalulu
Maignan.
Either lineup is plausible, given the selections for Friday’s matches and trends observed in recent hours. However, nothing is certain until the official announcement, made about an hour before kickoff. Regarding Les Bleus, there are significant discrepancies between the two media outlets, leaving the situation somewhat unclear.
This makes sense; it is only Zidane’s second match, so nothing is set in stone yet. Furthermore, the schedule is packed, with games every three days. This will necessitate squad rotation, though not necessarily starting with this match—or at least, not for everyone. It remains to be seen who will secure the starting spots. Uncertainty prevails within a deep squad featuring several versatile players. Similar doubts exist regarding Belgium, as the situation is much the same; even the formation differs from one newspaper to the other.
