France vs Republic of Ireland Preview

France will resume their quest for a place in next year’s European Championship when they welcome the Republic of Ireland to the Parc des Princes this Thursday for the Fifth Round of the tournament’s qualifiers.

The hosts come into this fixture in solid form after winning their last four games following their penalty shootout loss to Argentina in Qatar last year.

Each of those wins saw them keep a clean sheet, with a combined score of 9-0, indicating there is a strong chance of Les Bleus securing their ninth consecutive appearance at a European Championship.

Didier Deschamps will also be boosted by the national team linking up of the trio of Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and Randel Kolo Muani who are all now playing for PSG. The French coach said they should “develop more affinities or technical relationships” at the Parc des Princes.

So the hosts will be hoping that the trio will be able to lead them past the Republic of Ireland, who, incidentally, play this game in PSG’s home stadium, the Parc des Princes.

The visitors have a tough job as they are up against a France team who are unbeaten in eleven European Championship qualifiying games on French soil (W9, D2).

But being that one of those two draws came against a nation ranked lower than Ireland by FIFA (#53), Bosnia and Herzegovina (#62), Stephen Kenny’s men should have a glimmer of hope.

Earning a point in Paris would be crucial for the Boys in Green, especially as they have won only one of their first three ECQ matches (W1, L2). That victory came against the lowest-ranked nation in the group, Gibraltar (#198) and considering that they are winless in their last four away games (D1, L3), there is little hope they could hurt France.