Can the French team, which has been aiming for so long to compete with the best, dream of a first title as it comes out of a negative record of seven defeats for nine victories in 2024, and ends the year outside the world Top 10 for the first time (11th in the Fifa rankings)?
The draw, from 6:00 p.m. in Lausanne, places it at least among the favorites since the ‘Bleues’ will appear in the first hat alongside Switzerland, the host country, world champion Spain and Olympic bronze medalist Germany.
Outstripped by the ‘Blue‘ in their Euro qualifying group, deprived of the Olympics (where they would have worn the British colors if they had qualified), the English title holders will be the scarecrow of the second hat, with Italy, Iceland and Denmark.
The Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian and Belgians will make up the third hatwhile Finland, Poland, Portugal and Wales will complete the tournament field (July 2 to 27, 2025).
The curse of the quarters
The ‘Blues’, contenders for more than ten years for the podium in all the competitions they compete in, are beginning a new cycle, trained since the end of the Olympics by Laurent Bonadei, after having had a series of disappointments. Yet in front of their home crowd, they fell during the Olympic tournament in the quarter-finals against the future Brazilian silver medalists (1-0), without ever being enthusiastic in the game.
Above all, it is their seventh defeat at this stage in the last eight major competitions in which they have participated. (World Cups, Euros, Olympics), a sign of a glass ceiling facing the major nations that they are currently failing to break.
They have conceded 23 goals in 16 matches played this year, the worst total in their history, and the double defeat against the Spanish – 2-0 in February in the final of the League of Nations, 4-2 in early December in a friendly – has widely exposed their defensive fragility. Upon his arrival, Laurent Bonadei launched several projects, notably on the question of mentality by hiring the trainer Thomas Sammut, who supported the four-time Olympic champion Léon Marchand.
Win back the public
On the pitch, he opted for a new 3-4-3 system based on pressing and possession, far from what his predecessor Hervé Renard proposed, who above all wanted a physical game.. In goals, the new coach decided to appoint Constance Picaud N.1 in place of Pauline Peyraud-Magnin. But neither one nor the other convinced 100% and this position, now driven by Lionel Letizi, still has doubts.
The last project is that of the public: after a failed Olympic Games and another elimination in the quarter-finals during the 2023 World Cup, stadiums in France have emptied and television audiences are in free fall.
A good run at Euro-2025 could create new momentum, an issue which also concerns the tournament as a whole: at the end of October, UEFA made the creation of a “culture of supporters”, to fill the stadiums beyond the peaks of attendance with the most beautiful posters, a major objective of its development plan for women’s football by 2030.
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