France vs Belgium Preview

France will welcome Belgium to the Groupama Academy Stadium this Monday for their second Nations League game.

The 2018 World Cup winners began their bid to win a second Nations League title with a surprise 3-1 home defeat to Italy, a game they lost despite taking the lead inside the first minute. So, the hosts come into this tie on the backfoot after losing consecutive matches for the first time since June 2015.

Manager Didier Deschamps is using this competition to experiment and he admitted that doing so had contributed to their matchday one defeat. Les Bleus are therefore at risk of losing three in a row for the first time since 2013. However, France have won their last three H2Hs against Belgium, all of them coming in competitive internationals. Their wins against the Red Devils include a 3-2 victory in the semi-final of this competition in 2021 and a 1-0 win in the 2024 European Championship round of 16. Yet they’ve now only won one of their last three UNL games at home (L3) since claiming the title in 2021.

Meanwhile, Belgium began their Nations League campaign with a brilliant 3-1 win over Israel on Friday at the neutral Nagyerdei Stadion in Debrecen. Manager Domenico Tedesco gave Julien Duranville and Arne Engels their first taste of international football as Belgium opened a Nations League campaign with a win by 2+ goals for the third time.

However, the Red Devils will likely need to be sharper in all areas against France as Belgium have struggled on foreign soil of late, winning just two of their seven games outside of Belgium this calendar year (D3, L2). A win here would also be an important landmark as Belgium have never beaten France in France in a competitive international (D2, L4).