France and Italy, two of the biggest names in international football, square battle at Parc des Princes on Friday night to begin their respective UEFA Nations League campaigns.
The teams are currently meeting in Paris after Les Bleus lost to eventual Euro 2024
champions Spain in the semi-finals, while the Azzurri had a miserable summer defending their European crown.
France did not perform well this year at the Euros, finishing with just one goal outside of set pieces and own goals despite reaching the quarterfinals and losing to Spain in the semifinals thanks to an early goal by Randal Kolo Muani.
The 2022 World Cup finalists had a lackluster tournament as captain Kylian Mbappe, who only managed one goal, injured his nose in the opening match against Austria and returned wearing a mask that appeared to limit his play.
Didier Deschamps was criticized once more for his tactful approach, but the veteran coach will now guide Les Bleus into a new campaign, with the Nations League this season as the next stop on the schedule.
Deschamps led his squad to triumph in the 2021 edition of UEFA’s newest competition, which brought them worldwide recognition in addition to a disappointing third place result in their group from six games played.
France will not be able to afford another poor performance in 2024-25, as the bottom team in each group will be automatically demoted, and the top three teams will need to compete in a playoff to avoid being sent to League B.
Israel and Belgium are also in Group 2, and the top two finishers there advance to a fresh series of quarterfinal matches. The victors of those matches go on to the finals in June of the following year.
It’s safe to say that Italy was appalled by their Euro experience, as well, since they barely made it out of their difficult group with a last-minute goal against Croatia before losing to France in the first round of the knockout stages.
Few could have been disappointed when
Luciano Spalletti’s team was knocked out by neighboring Switzerland in the round of 16, therefore terminating their
championship defense, as they never really settled into a groove.
Ever reflective, Spalletti has subsequently stated that he wants to restore stability and clarity to the Italian lineup while also bringing in fresh players and gradually replacing some of his more seasoned teammates.
After Roberto Mancini, the winner of Euro 2020, left after taking the Azzurri to the top of their most recent Nations League group and then to third place in the finals, Italy had not lost in six games coming into Germany under
Spalletti’s leadership.
La Nazionale’s season is off to a difficult start against teams they had lost to in their last three friendlies but famously vanquished in the 2006 World Cup final, before they play Israel next week.
In fact, the match on Friday will mark the rekindling of an illustrious rivalry at Parc des Princes as it will be Italy’s first competitive encounter with France in about sixteen years.