France vs Germany Prediction & Betting Tips

Germany travel to France to take on the 2018 World Champions as both teams begin to ramp up preparations ahead of this summer’s European Championships.

Date: 23/03/24

Kick-off time: 20:00

Venue: Groupama Stadium

As hosts, Germany automatically qualified for the upcoming tournament, meaning that they have not played any competitive games since the 2022 World Cup, where they were eliminated in the group stages. They have played in 11 friendlies since, and have been far from convincing. Only three of these were wins, whilst they lost five.

France, in contrast, have enjoyed much greater form, as they finished top of their qualification group with 22 points from a possible 24. This included a massive 14-0 win over Gibraltar, which contributed towards the 29 goals they scored across the eight group games. They also played a pair of friendlies in September and October, beating Scotland 4-1, but losing to this weekend’s opponents Germany 2-1.

As expected, due to the array of attacking and defensive talent they possess, France are amongst the favourites to be triumphant at the Euros. During qualification, PSG forward Kylian Mbappe scored nine goals, which was the third most of all players. Olivier Giroud, the nation’s record goalscorer, will also be hoping to add to his 56 goals in this friendly. He should be confident in doing so, should he play, against a side who has not kept a clean sheet in 10 games.

Despite their defensive struggles, Germany have scored seven in their last three, three of those coming from Borussia Dortmund forward Niclas Fullkrug. He may be the side’s prime threat.

In the last five meetings between the pair, France have won two and lost one, which was the recent friendly. Les Bleus beat Germany in the last European Championships in 2021, winning 1-0 in the group stages. They were also in the same group for the UEFA Nations League in 2018, in which France won and drew.

France

Kingsley Coman is injured so has been replaced by Aston Villa’s Moussa Diaby. Christopher Nkunku and Bradley Barcola are also sidelined.

Germany

Six players have received international call-ups for the first time, including Bayern Munich youngster Aleksandar Pavlovic. Toni Kroos has also made a return to international football for the first time since Euro 2020. Manuel Neuer is also returning as number one.

France

In their last five games, France have won three, drawn one and lost one. Four of these fixtures were European qualifiers, with the fifth being a friendly. This was the first game of this stretch, as they took on this weekend’s opponents Germany in September. The Germans were 2-1 winners, as Thomas Muller gave them a very early fourth minute lead. This was doubled, but not until the 87th minute, when Leroy Sane found the back of the net. Antoine Griezmann converted a penalty two minutes later, but it proved to be nothing more than a consolation.

They returned to Euro qualifying in the next game, as they narrowly beat Netherlands 2-1 away from home. Kylian Mbappe scored a goal in either half, before Quilindschy Hartman pulled one back late on. There was time to stage a comeback, but the hosts could not pull it off. This preceded a much more comfortable game against Scotland, in which they won 4-1. The Scots actually went ahead in the 11th minute, with midfielder Billy Gilmour on the scoresheet. Their lead only lasted five minutes, however, as Benjamin Pavard scored the equaliser. The defender scored his second less than ten minutes later to turn the game around. Mbappe scored from the spot to give them a cushion at half-time. Their dominance continued into the second half as Kingsley Coman added a fourth.

Their biggest win of this stretch was a thumping 14-0 victory over Gibraltar. Les Bleus were two goals up after just four minutes and 3-0 up after 16. What was already a difficult evening for the visitors got even worse as they were reduced to 10 men shortly after. France used the extra man to their advantage, going into the break up 7-0. Mbappe completed a hat-trick in the second half whilst Olivier Giroud added a late brace to finish off the rout. They could not continue this winning momentum in their next trip to Greece. Their opponents managed to hold them to a 2-2 draw in their most recent fixture. Both teams had to come from behind as the points were shared.

Germany

In their last five games, Germany have won one, drawn one and lost three. As they are hosting the upcoming Euros in the summer, Germany did not have to go through the qualifying process, meaning all of their fixtures have been friendlies. Their latest game was a 2-0 defeat at Austria. Marcel Sabitzer put the hosts ahead just before the half hour mark. Shortly after the restart, Bayern Munich’s Leroy Sane saw red, as the visitors were reduced to ten men. They could not overcome their disadvantage as Christoph Baumgartner doubled the lead.

This followed another loss, this time at home to Turkey. Kai Havertz broke the deadlock just five minutes into the game. Turkey managed to turn it around before half-time with two goals in the last ten minutes of the half. Niclas Fullkrug found the equaliser early in the second half, but then Germany conceded a penalty to win the visitors the game.

They also took on Mexico, but still couldn’t find a win, drawing 2-2. Antonio Rudiger found of the back of the net to put the Germans ahead, but this was cancelled out by Uriel Antuna. Erick Sanchez then turned it around giving Mexico the lead, though Fullkrug made sure parity was restored. Their only victory of this stretch came against USA. Christian Pulisic scored early, but goals from Ilkay Gundogan, Fullkrug and Jamal Musiala ensured the win. The very first game was against France, and they beat this weekend’s opponents thanks to strikes from Thomas Muller and Sane.

Germany have endured some rough form in recent games, albeit all in friendlies. France have lost just once in the same stretch, though this was to the Germans. Whilst this is a friendly, we expect a competitive game with the hosts to just edge it – France 2-1 Germany

Don’t forget to check out the rest of our previews, tips and offers for this weekend’s action. Footy Accumulators is the #1 football betting site for the latest on betting in the UK - download the Betting Hub app for more!

France vs Germany will be available to watch in the UK on Viaplay Sports 1.

• Latest match predictions
• Football tips
• Football accumulator tips
• Football bet of the day