France will face Austria, the Netherlands and play-off A in group D

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The verdict is in: the French team will face Austria, the Netherlands and the winner of path A (Poland, Estonia, Wales or Finland) in group D during Euro 2024, organized by Germany next June.

According to the order of the draw, carried out this Saturday, December 2 in Hamburg, the Blues will first cross the road to Austria on June 17, then that of the Netherlands on June 21 and finally that of the play-off team victorious on path A on June 25, whose name will be known after the play-off phase scheduled for March 2024. It will be either Poland, Estonia, Wales or Finland.

Didier Deschamps’ men will therefore have to once again get rid of the Dutch selection, which they beat twice in 2023 (4-0 on March 24 then 2-1 on October 13) during the qualifying matches for the European Championship. Europe 2024. The Blues were almost flawless during these qualifiers, posting a record of seven wins and one draw for eight matches played in total.

The group of death for the Italian title holders

In the other groups, Germany will notably face Scotland for the opening match on June 14 in Munich, then Hungary and Switzerland. But it is above all group B which will capture all the attention during the group stage: Italy, reigning European champion, will meet Spain, titled in the last Nations League, Croatia, third during the 2022 World Cup, and Albania.

Among the other favorites, England will face Slovenia, Denmark and there Serbia in group C, while Belgium will battle with Slovakia, Romania and the winner of path B (Israel, Iceland, Bosnia or Ukraine). Portugal will have to escape from a group made up of Turkey, of the winner of route C (Georgia, Luxembourg, Greece or Kazakhstan) and the Czech Republic.

Crowned European champions twice in their history (1984 and 2000), the Blues remain on two disappointments in a row in the competition: during Euro 2021, where they were eliminated in the round of 16 against Switzerland , and during Euro 2016 organized at home and lost in the final against Portugal.

They will try to sweep away these bad memories and succeed Italy, titled in 2021, which would allow them to rise to the height of Germany (1972, 1980, 1996) and Spain (1964, 2008, 2012 ), triple winners each of the competition.