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Both of these teams finished second in their group and just like England, the media and the fans are getting on their backs.
Most observers thought France would run away with Group D but Austria exceeded all expectations whilst in Group E, Belgium were disappointing, losing to Slovakia and drawing with Ukraine.
The France players were booed off the pitch after their last match so it would be safe to say that their confidence will be a little on the low side.
Whichever way you look at this game though, these are two quality teams and this is a fixture that will get pulses racing amongst football fans all over Europe.
Odds and Predictions
We think this will be a close match, neither team is in good form and even though France are probably the better side, we don’t think they will have it all their own way.
The bookies have France priced up as favourites at 1.90, the odds on Belgium are 4.50 and the draw is 3.20.
Our tips for this match start with the draw at 3.30 and for once, we are not going for a 1 – 1 scoreline as we believe there will be a few goals in this match so we are going for a 2 – 2 scoreline at odds of 19.0, very happy with that price.
Looking at other selections for this match, we can’t believe that Kevin De Bruyne ‘To score at any time’ is priced up at 6.0 so we are definitely having some of that.
Comparison and Statistics from Past Meetings Between the Teams
There is lots of history between these teams as they have faced each other head to head seventy five times in their football history.
Belgium have the upper hand with thirty wins, France have won twenty six, with the remaining nineteen matches ending in a draw.
The last five H2H matches are listed below.
| Past Meetings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07 Oct 2021 | belgium | 2-3 | france | UEFA Nations League Semi-Final |
| 10 Jul 2018 | france | 1-0 | belgium | FIFA World Cup Semi-Final |
| 07 Jul 2015 | france | 3-4 | belgium | Friendly Game |
| 14 Aug 2013 | belgium | 0-0 | france | Friendly Game |
| 15 Nov 2011 | france | 0-0 | belgium | Friendly Game |
Expected Line Ups
Kylian Mbappe will be wearing his now familiar facemask after breaking his nose in the first match of the tournament and Didier Deschamps must be hoping that his star player can spark some life into a French team that has looked so flat in the last couple of matches.
For Belgium, the big question must be whether Romelu Lukaku will be given another chance to show what he is capable of as he is not exactly in a rich vein of form at the moment.
France (4-3-3): Mike Maignan; Jules Koundé, William Saliba, Dayot Upamecano, Theo Hernandez; N’Golo Kanté, Adrien Rabiot, Antoine Griezmann; Ousmane Dembélé, Kylian Mbappé, Bradley Barcola
Belgium (3-4-3): Matz Sels; Zeno Debast, Jan Vertonghen, Wout Faes; Timothy Castagne, Youri Tielemans, Amadou Onana, Yannick Carrasco; Jérémy Doku, Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne
How Far Will These Teams Progress in the Tournament?
We think that this match will be decided on penalties, so it will then be a case of how each team reacts to the pressure that goes hand in hand with a penalty shootout.
We think France will go through, but it must be at the back of their minds that an in form Portugal is very likely to be waiting for them in the quarter finals.
