Austria vs France Euro 2024 Prediction: Can Austria shock Les Bleus? | OneFootball

World Cup runners-up France kick off their Euro 2024 campaign with a tough opening game against Ralf Rangnick’s Austria side.

Austria vs France Euro 2024 Prediction: Can Austria shock Les Bleus?

Austria vs France Latest Prediction

France must overcome a tough group consisting of the Netherlands, Poland and Austria if they want to win the European Championships for a third time.

After disappointment at the World Cup in Qatar that saw them lose on penalties in the final to Argentina despite Kylian Mbappé’s hat-trick, Didier Deschamps’ men will be hopeful of going one step further and bringing home the trophy in Germany.

Up first are an Austrian side that have impressed under new manager Ralf Ragnick, qualifying in second place just one point behind Belgium and suffering just one defeat in their eight games. Despite their improvement, we still expect France to come out on top in this game and start the tournament with a win as they look to top Group D.

In qualifying, Les Bleus were near perfect. They scored 29 goals, kept six clean sheets and conceded just three goals in their eight matches, winning seven and drawing one. Their only blip came in a 2-2 draw against Greece, but this was after they had already secured top spot with a weakened side put out by Didier Deschamps.

They will once again look to talisman Kylian Mbappé to get them over the line, who is full of confidence after another 40+ goal season for PSG and securing the World Cup Golden Boot in Qatar in 2022.

Austria Latest Team News

Premier League fans will already know Marcel Sabitzer and Mark Arnautovic from their time with Manchester United and Stoke and now their exploits for Borussia Dortmund and Inter, but it’s Bayern Munich versatile midfielder/right-back Konrad Laimer who knits everything together nicely for Ralf Rangnick.

The 26-year-old has put in some impressive performances so far this season in the Bundesliga and the Champions League and will be looking to drive his country forward in Germany and make it out of a tough group. He should line up alongside RB Leipzig’s Xaver Schlager in a strong midfield that would be a test for anyone.

Look out for Stefan Posch, who is usually flying down Austria’s right flank from right-back. Although he may have his hands full with Mbappe and Hernandez for this game.

France Latest Team News

After the news that Lucas Hernandez has torn his ACL and will miss the tournament, a place at CB has opened up with William Saliba, Ibahima Konate and Dayot Upamecano all fighting for two spots, with Jules Kounde expected to start at right-back.

Antoine Griezmann will continue in his new hybrid number 10 role that he has excelled in for his country, just behind France’s all-time record goalscorer Olivier Giroud, who is expected to get the nod once again up front. PSG pair Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé will do the damage from the wide positions, with Mbappé free to cut in and allow the energetic Theo Hernandez to do what he does best and fly down the left-hand side.

Real Madrid pair Aurélien Tchouaméni and the versatile Eduardo Camavinga, who can fill in at left-back or centre-back if needed, should anchor the midfield with Adrien Rabiot on hand if either are unavailable.

Austria vs France Head to Head

These two sides last met in the 2022 Nations League with France remaining unbeaten in both games. First came a 1-1 draw in Austria before goals from Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud handed Didier Deschamps’ side a 2-0 win.

How to watch Austria vs France Live

Group D sees Austria take on France in Düsseldorf on June 17 and all of the action will be live on ITV1 or STV, as well as online on ITVX or STV Player.

Every game at Euro 2024 will be shown live on either BBC or ITV, with the two platforms sharing the broadcast rights.