France vs Italy Preview

With a few days to go before their first match at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, France take on Italy in one of the pre-tournament friendlies.

The visitors may not have qualified for the World Cup, but they dropped just seven points in qualification and finished second behind Spain in their qualifying group, however, their playoff defeat at the hands of Sweden would have left bitter taste in their mouths.

The Italians who have nothing to lose should be very difficult opponents for France here and it will be interesting to see how this talented French squad fair.

The French national team is packed with stars and any of their attackers such as Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud who could walk into any national team.

Their defence also has a perfect blend of skill and youth while Hugo Lloris is one of the best goalies in the world. They go to the World Cup as favourites yet again.

This summer’s break gives Roberto Mancini a chance to rebuild his talented but underachieving Italian squad.

The first task he has is to decide who takes over from Gianluigi Buffon with Gianluigi Donnarumma who got his 6^th cap against Saudi Arabia the most likely heir to the throne.

Without the likes of Giorgio Chiellini and Matteo Darmian, Mancini will be handing opportunities to new players including Sassuolo striker Domenico Berardi.

France have won four of their last seven meetings with Italy.  They won each of those matches by scoring at least two goals.

Results of each team’s last 5 matches across all leagues and competitions

France

LAST FIVE GAMES						DATE	COMPETITION
W	Russia		1-3		France	27 Mar, 2018	International Friendly
L	France		2-3		Colombia	23 Mar, 2018	International Friendly
D	Germany		2-2		France	14 Nov, 2017	International Friendly
W	France		2-0		Wales	10 Nov, 2017	International Friendly
W	France		2-1		Belarus	10 Oct, 2017	FIFA World Cup Qualifying –

Italy

LAST FIVE GAMES						DATE	COMPETITION
D	England		1-1		Italy	27 Mar, 2018	International Friendly
L	Argentina		2-0		Italy	23 Mar, 2018	International Friendly
D	Italy		0-0		Sweden	13 Nov, 2017	FIFA World Cup Qualifying –
L	Sweden		1-0		Italy	10 Nov, 2017	FIFA World Cup Qualifying –
W	Albania		0-1		Italy	9 Oct, 2017	FIFA World Cup Qualifying –

H2H

LAST FIVE GAMES					DATE	COMPETITION
Italy		1-3		France	1 Sep, 2016	International Friendly
Italy		1-2		France	14 Nov, 2012	International Friendly
France		0-2		Italy	17 Jun, 2008	European Championship
Italy		0-0		France	8 Sep, 2007	European Championship Qualifying
France		3-1		Italy	6 Sep, 2006	European Championship Qualifying