“In terms of motivation, we will have to be at our best, obviously,” said Deschamps. According to the coach, Belgium “is one of the big teams” in the tournament.
“Their group was very tight too, they all finished on four points. We know each other well, of course, so it will be a big round of 16 for us, as for them,” he added.
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The last two confrontations between the two nations left a very bad memory for the Belgians. In 2018, France eliminated the Red Devils in the semi-final of the World Cup in Russia (1-0) after having perfectly resisted in defense. In 2021, the Blues did it again in the semi-final of the League of Nations, coming back from a two-goal deficit before winning 3-2. Each time, Didier Deschamps’ troops won the competition.
“We followed them in their three matches and obviously the last one against Ukraine. There are always individuals, especially in the offensive area, De Bruyne, Lukaku, Doku, Trossard. If they finish 2nd it is because they also had certain difficulties but potentially, they are one of the very good teams which have the ambition to go far”, also explained the French coach.
