France EURO 2020 Preview - History and Expectations

Published on 06 Mar 2020 | Last updated on 01 Jul 2026 | Reading time: 5 minutes

The French national team is among the biggest favorites of the upcoming European Football Championship in 2020. This is normal because the 'Blues' enter the tournament as the current world champion. Didier Deschamps's selection won the 2018 World Cup in Russia after beating Croatia 4:2 in the final. The golden generation of France has fulfilled its big dream, but experts say that success is yet to come. And this is logical given how many young and classy players France has now. The team is also expected to win Euro 2020, but there will be serious competition in the group stage as they will face the strong teams of Germany and Portugal.

Check out our France preview at this year's European Championship and our forecast for the "Blues" for the summer race.

France European Championships - History and successes

France has two European titles in its history - in 1984 and 2000 when it made an incredible turn against Italy. Les Bleus were one goal away by the end of the match, but Sylvain Wiltor equalized in the 93rd minute and put the game into extra time. David Trezeguet scored a golden goal in the 103rd minute and brought France's second European title. At the last European Championship, the team reached the final but lost to Portugal in the trophy match. In the 2012 Championship in Poland and Ukraine, the "blues" dropped to the 1/4-finals, and 4 years before that were eliminated in the group phase. France has played a total of 39 matches in the Euro Finals with 20 wins, 9 draws, and 10 losses.

The Road to Euro 2020

The French team qualified as the winner in their group in the Euro 2020 qualifiers. The Deschamps's eleven had incredible competition in the face of Turkey, finishing just two points behind. The Blues recorded 8 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss in their 10 qualifying matches, scoring 25 goals and receiving 6. The team finished 6 points ahead of third Iceland, no doubt that they would rank beside the top 2 in this qualifying group.

Euro 2020 fixtures

France is in Group F of Euro 2020 with the teams of Germany, Portugal, and Hungary.

• June 15, 9:00 pm: France - Germany / Allianz Arena, Munich /
• June 19, 3:00 pm: Hungary - France / Puskas Arena, Budapest /
• June 23, 9:00 pm: France - Portugal / Pushkas Arena, Budapest /

France squad for the European Football Championship 2020

France has an incredible football generation and the Didier Deschamps has a long list of talents, on who he can rely on. At the door is the experienced Hugo Lloris, who has competition from Alfonso Areola. In defense, France is led by Rafael Varan, Clement Lenglet, and Luca Hernandez - these players play together for Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich. This shows the incredible quality of the French defense team, where there are more players like Lucas Digne, Benjamin Mendy, Presnel Kimbeppmbe, Benjamin Pavard, and more. The team's midfield is made up of players such as Ngolo Kant, Paul Pogba, Bless Matthew, and Musa Sissoko. The French national team has depth in this area of ​​the pitch, as Corentin Tolisso and Steven Nzonzi also have options over Deschamps. France's attack is simply deadly. Didier Deschamps has there the biggest problem deciding which players to call, as he has classy players like Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezman, Kingsley Coman, Antoni Marcial, Olivier Giroud, Ben Yedder, and Thomas Lemar.

Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur) Steve Mandanda (Marseille), Mike Maignan (Lille)
Defenders: Raphaël Varane (Real Madrid), Jules Kounde (Sevilla), Lucas Digne (Everton), Benjamin Pavard (Bayern Munich), Lucas Hernandez (Bayern Munich), Presnel Kimpembe (Paris Saint-Germain), Clement Lenglet, (Barcelona), Kurt Zouma (Chelsea), Leo Dubois (Lyon)
Midfielders: Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Moussa Sissoko (Tottenham Hotspur), N'Golo Kanté (Chelsea), Adrien Rabiot (Juventus), Corentin Tolisso (Bayern Munich)
Forwards: Olivier Giroud (Chelsea), Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona), Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain), Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich), Thomas Lemar (Atletico Madrid), Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona), Wissam Ben Yedder (Monaco), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Marcus Thuram (Borussia Monchengladbach)

Source: www.yoursportsfeeder.com

The Big Star: Kylian Mbappe

Kylian Mbappe is the big star of France. The 21-year-old has 13 goals in 34 games for his national team. He breaks record after record in world football and we expect him to explode at Euro 2020. Mbappe is extremely fast, has incredible technique, and a precise finishing shot. He can lead France to the Euro 2020 gold medals just as he did at the 2018 World Cup. He won the trophy for the best young player at the World Cup in Russia. Now Mbappe has even more experience, though he is only 21 years old, and his performances will be decisive for France's presentation at the European Championships this summer.

Expectations for France at Euro 2020

We expect the French team to be the winner of the group, although it has classmates like Germany and Portugal. The match with the Bundesteam will be tough as it will take place in Munich, but France has a much better squad and we think will be able to cope with the resistance of the selection of Joachim Leo. Portugal is the current European champion, but the French have to take revenge for losing the final four years ago in Paris. In our opinion, France will go to the battle for the Euro 2020 medals. Our big favorite for winning the tournament is exactly Deschamps's eleven, as they look like the best national team in Europe at the moment.

Odds for France

As we already mentioned in our other reviews, this is the "group of the death", but we think France will easily go through the 1/8 finals. In such a difficult group is hard to predict which two teams will continue in the next phase, but it will be a big surprise if Les Bleus is not one of them. Bookmakers place France in 3rd place as the next European Championship winner, but they are our personal favorite number one. Here are the current odds for France:

To win Euro 2020	5.50
To win Group F	2.37