France had to win by two goals in Italy to take first place in its group in the Nations League. This Sunday, November 17, 2024, she fulfilled her mission, winning 3 goals to 1. For what consequences?
In the space of 72 hours, the French team went through all the emotions. Of great disappointment draw against Israel in Saint-Denis on Thursday (0-0) to the brilliant victory in Milan against Italy on Sunday (1-3), the Blues brilliantly rectified the situation.
First in the group
Beaten in the first leg when they entered the fray, the French traveled to San Siro with a spirit of revenge, Sunday November 17. And above all a mission: to impose itself with two goals difference to take first place from the Squadra Azzurra. What they did by winning by the same score as the Italians in France in September, 3 goals to 1. The two nations ended their journey with 13 points, but the Blues showed a better goal difference (+6 against +5). They therefore finish first in the group, ahead of Italy, Belgium, and Israel.
A duel against a second
As a reminder, this fourth edition of the League of Nations adds a additional round during the final stages. Usually launched in half, as part of the “Final four”, these will now start in quarts during spring 2025. The first group thus meet the secondwith back and forth confrontations.
By finishing second, France could have crossed Portugal, Germany or Spainguaranteed to finish first in the other groups. But with the conquest of the crown, the Blues avoid the big pieces. As we write these lines, Croatia, the Netherlands and Denmark are second in groups 1, 3 and 4 and are therefore the potential opponents of the Blues.
Draw, date of matches…
Didier Deschamps' troops will be set for Friday November 22, on the occasion of the draw for these quarter-finalswhich will be carried out in Nyon, Switzerland. As for the posters, they will be held March 20 and 23, 2025.
Unpublished since the coronation of 2021
This is the second time that France has managed to qualify for the final stages of the competition, after the epic of 2020-2021. On this occasion, the Blues were crowned, having the Belgium in the semi-final (2-3) and Spain in the final (1-2) to lift the trophy. In 2018, they were beaten by the Netherlands before completely missing the 2022-2023 campaign, during which the world champions in Russia even had came close to relegation.
France
