We look ahead to Saturday’s international friendly in Lyon with our France vs Germany prediction and preview.
France vs Germany Stats: The Quick Hits
- Didier Deschamps will take charge of his 150th game as France manager in this match against Germany.
- France have won six consecutive home matches – their best winning run since June 2016 (eight in a row).
- Germany are without a clean sheet in their last 10 internationals, which is their longest sequence since 1960.
Match Preview
Didier Deschamps will take charge of his 150th match as France boss on Saturday evening, as his nation host Germany at the Groupama Stadium in Lyon. The good news for the French coach is that they usually perform well in Lyon, losing just one of their previous 11 matches there – the very first back in October 1968 versus Spain.
The French will hope to continue their great recent home form, with six consecutive wins on home soil – their longest such streak since eight wins in a row between September 2015 and June 2016.
Germany haven’t enjoyed similar positive form since the appointment of Julian Nagelsmann. With just one win, one draw and two defeats in his first four games in charge, the German coach has made the joint-worst start as German national team manager along with Erich Ribbeck in 1998.
The Germans haven’t kept a single clean sheet in their last 10 games, which is their joint-longest run since the beginning of 1960. If they concede to France in this match, it’ll be their longest run of conceding goals in matches since a 12-game sequence between 1955 and 1957.
France will be without Antoine Griezmann following an ankle injury. This will be the first time that the French have played a game without him appearing since June 2017 vs England, ending a run of 84 successive matches played in – the longest run of any Frenchman in international history.
Kylian Mbappé will be hoping to continue his excellent run of form for France in this match. He’s either scored or assisted a goal in each of his last seven international appearances – if he gets a goal involvement in this match then he’ll be the first Frenchman to be involved in one for eight successive internationals since Michel Platini between February and November 1984 (nine in a row).
If his club form is anything to go by, there’s little doubt he’ll manage it – no player has scored more competitive goals for a side in the top five European leagues this season than Mbappé (38 in 37 games).
Germany welcome Toni Kroos back into their squad for the first time since the 2020 European Championship. He could make his first appearance for the Germans since the 2-0 defeat to England in the round of 16 on 29 June 2021.
France vs Germany Head-to-Head
Germany won the last meeting between these two nations, with a 2-1 friendly victory in Dortmund in September 2023. Goals from Thomas Müller and Leroy Sané gave Germany their first win in six matches after only sacking head coach Hansi Flick a few days before.
That is Germany’s only victory over France in their last seven meetings, with the French winning four of those.
This will be France’s 10th international match against Germany since Didier Deschamps first took charge of them in 2012 – the most games against a single nation since his appointment.
France vs Germany Prediction
The Opta supercomputer predicts a France win on Saturday night, with the home side victorious in 53.1% of the pre-match simulations. Germany won just under a quarter of the sims before kick-off (24.4%) while a draw was played out between these two European giants on 21.5% of occasions.
France vs Germany Squads
France: Mike Maignan, Alphonse Areola, Brice Samba, Benjamin Pavard, Lucas Hernandez, Jules Koundé, Théo Hernandez, Dayot Upamecano, Ibrahima Konaté, William Saliba, Jonathan Clauss, Adrien Rabiot, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Youssouf Fofana, Eduardo Camavinga, Matteo Guendouzi, Warren Zaïre-Emery, Olivier Giroud, Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Marcus Thuram, Randal Kolo Muani, Moussa Diaby.
Head Coach: Didier Deschamps
Germany: Marc-André ter Stegen, Bernd Leno, Olivier Baumann, Joshua Kimmich, Antonio Rüdiger, Jonathan Tah, David Raum, Benjamin Henrichs, Robin Koch, Waldemar Anton, Maximilian Mittelstädt, Toni Kroos, İlkay Gündoğan, Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz, Pascal Groß, Robert Andrich, Chris Führich, Thomas Müller, Niclas Füllkrug, Kai Havertz, Maximilian Beier, Deniz Undav.
Head Coach: Julian Naglesmann
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