France enter the final leg of their 2026 World Cup preparation as one of the definitive tournament favourites – but Didier Deschamps has major tactical and defensive dilemmas to solve before heading to North America.
Les Bleus host Ivory Coast at the Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes on Thursday evening, with both managers desperate to lock down their starting structures ahead of the tournament’s opening fixtures. While France are looking to fine-tune a star-studded squad, Emerse Faé’s Elephants arrive in exceptional form, fresh off dominant friendly displays against South Korea (4-0) and Scotland (1-0) in March.
Ivory Coast are yet to make it out of the group stage at the World Cup and face Germany, Ecuador and Curacao this time around.
France, meanwhile, were runners up in 2022 and won the World Cup in 2018. Can they return to the top step?
Here is everything you need to know ahead of the clash in Nantes, including team news, predicted line-ups, and the key match statistics.
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Team news for France v Ivory Coast
Arsenal centre-back William Saliba aggravated a lingering back injury while playing against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final last week. He remains a critical doubt for the tournament itself and is definitively ruled out of this warm-up fixture, leaving a massive void in Deschamps’ backline.
Dayot Upamecano will anchor the defence, with Ibrahima Konaté widely expected to step into the starting XI as he seeks a new club.
Further up the pitch, Manchester City’s Rayan Cherki is expected to get a golden opportunity to cement his place in Deschamps’ tournament plans, starting in the number 10 role behind Marcus Thuram. Meanwhile, all eyes are on Kylian Mbappé, who stands just a single goal away from equaling Olivier Giroud’s all-time goalscoring record for France.
Ivory Coast will have to make do without crucial defensive pillars Evan Ndicka and Clement Akpa, who miss out through injury, leaving Ousmane Diomande and Guéla Doué to handle the unenviable task of containing Mbappé and Michael Olise.
Predicted line-ups for France v Ivory Coast
France: Maignan; Koundé, Konate, Upamecano, T. Hernández; Tchouaméni, Rabiot; Dembélé, Cherki, Mbappé; Thuram
Ivory Coast: Y. Fofana; Singo, O. Diomande, Ndicka, Konan; Sangaré, Kessié, S. Fofana; Diallo, Y. Diomande, Adingra.
Where to watch France v Ivory Coast: TV and online streams
The match can be watched in the UK on Amazon through their Prime PPV service. The stream of the game is here and costs £2.99.
Stats for France v Ivory Coast
- Kylian Mbappé is just one goal away from drawing level with Olivier Giroud as France’s joint all-time top goalscorer.
- France head into Thursday night’s clash on an impressive nine-game unbeaten streak, having scored at least two goals in every single one of those fixtures.
- This is only the fourth senior meeting between the two nations. France holds a slight historical advantage with two victories and one draw from their three previous encounters. The most recent clash ended in a tight 2-1 victory for France in a 2022 friendly.
- Ivory Coast have proven to be an exceptionally tough nut to crack under Emerse Faé, navigating their entire World Cup qualifying campaign completely unbeaten
Prediction for France v Ivory Coast
With both managers managing workloads ahead of the trip to North America, this is unlikely to transform into an chaotic, end-to-end shootout. Expect a highly physical, tactical battle.
The pure individual quality of Mbappé, Olise, and a hungry Cherki should give Les Bleus the narrow edge on home soil.
Prediction: France 2-1 Ivory Coast
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