The France national team played poorly ahead of Euro 2024

(France vs Canada Match Result) – The France team performed poorly against Canada in the pre-Euro 2024 friendly match, signaling many difficulties for the French team.

The France national team, currently ranked second in the world and 47 places higher than Canada, encountered significant challenges against the North American team’s fast and pressing style.

In the first half, the home team controlled the majority of the possession but only created one dangerous opportunity when forward Marcus Thuram’s shot hit the crossbar. Thuram started in place of Kylian Mbappe, who was slightly injured after the 3-0 victory over Luxembourg four days earlier.

This was Didier Deschamps’ squad’s final friendly before Euro 2024, so he did not want to risk using Mbappe from the start. Without Mbappe, France lost a key attacking threat on the left wing, forcing them to focus their attacks primarily on the right side, where Ousmane Dembele was active in the first half. The former Barcelona forward managed to outplay opponents with his skills a few times but failed to create significant scoring chances.

At the beginning of the second half, Coach Deschamps brought in 22-year-old forward Bradley Barcola to replace Marcus Thuram, hoping to make a breakthrough. However, the home team nearly conceded a goal when Canada’s striker Liam Millar’s right-footed shot from the edge of the left side of the box grazed goalkeeper Mike Maignan’s fingers before hitting the crossbar. The Canadian players were left frustrated by the missed opportunity.

It wasn’t until the 74th minute that Deschamps decided to bring Mbappe on, placing him as the central forward, but the remaining time was insufficient for him to make a significant impact. Mbappe’s best chance came in the final seconds of the match when he used a la croqueta move to dribble past two defenders simultaneously, but his close-range shot was brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau.

France is in Group D of Euro 2024 along with Poland, the Netherlands, and Austria. Mbappe and his teammates will face Austria on June 17th, followed by matches against the Netherlands and Poland. In the previous Euro, France was unexpectedly eliminated in the round of 16 on penalties by Switzerland. This time, they are considered one of the top contenders for the championship, on par with England.