Republic of Ireland vs France

The Republic of Ireland will meet 2022 World Cup runners-up France in their opening Euro 2024 qualifying Group B clash at the Aviva Stadium.

Brighton’s rising star Evan Ferguson marked his maiden international start for Ireland with a goal as Stephen Kenny’s young squad ousted Latvia 3-2 in a final warm-up fixture, registering back-to-back wins for the first time since October 2021. The ‘Boys in Green’ now kick off their European Championship qualifying campaign against France, a side they’ve failed to beat in any of their last seven H2Hs (D3, L4) since a 3-2 home victory in 1981. Interestingly, despite failing to qualify for Euro 2020, Ireland are unbeaten in 27 of their last 30 European qualifying matches (W14, D13), including the 14 most recent on home turf (W8, D6). What’s even more encouraging for Ireland fans is that the ‘Boys in Green’ have opened their last three European Championship qualifying campaigns with a win.

On the other hand, Kylian Mbappe’s reign as captain of France’s national team was off to a flyer. The PSG superstar led his teammates by example, netting a brace in a 4-0 demolition of the Netherlands in their Group B curtain-raiser. Heavily fancied to maintain their impressive start to this qualifying campaign in Dublin, ‘Les Bleus’ can draw confidence from winning two previous international visits to Ireland in the 21st century. But since both those wins yielded an identical 1-0 scoreline, the continuation of their free-scoring form could be up in the air. Indeed, Didier Deschamp’s men have won their last four qualifying games for major tournaments (World Cup/Euro) via an aggregate score of 16-0 and could make it five qualifying wins in a row without conceding for the first time since 1984.