France vs Belgium: Who overcomes the slump?

Djibril Cissé wants to see “the real French team”

France – Belgium!

Could it be scripted any better France v Belgium in the round of 16 of Euro 2024! After the Belgians' draw against Ukraine on June 26 (0-0), the Red Devils now meet Les Bleus on July 1 in a must-win clash.

Both in poor form

Neither team has exactly dominated in the group stage, despite all signs on paper indicating a cakewalk for the two top footballing nations. We will now see exactly what they're made of as these two struggling teams battle it out to keep their Euro dream alive.

Djibril Cissé wants to see “the real French team”

However, former Blues striker Djibril Cissé thinks this is the best possible motivation for the struggling national side, telling French TV show L'Équipe de Greg: "I'm happy, because we're finally going to see the real French team," he said in anticipation of the matchup.

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"There is no choice!"

"I think they will raise the level and, with the class of the players, they will do it! Because in any case, there is no choice," he concluded.

Belgians criticized

Booed by their supporters at the end of the draw against Ukraine, Belgium made it through but did not convince… far from it.

France, the bane of Belgium?

After the fiasco of the 2022 World Cup (elimination in the group stage and bad atmosphere in the team), Dominico Tedesco's now come up against the Blues, a constant thorn in their side, in a knockout clash

2018 still in our minds!

The 2018 World Cup semifinal is still surely in everyone's minds, as is the Blues's win in the Nations League in 2021. France won 3-2 after being down 2-0!

One defeat in the last 18 matches

However, we should not be too disparaging about this Belgian team either, because they have only lost one of their last 18 matches: against Slovakia 1-0 at the start of the Euros.

The harmless French attack?

Though they may be confident, Didier Deschamps' men are not in great shape, with two disappointing draws against the Netherlands (0-0) and Poland (1-1). The French attack is at half-mast.

Lukaku, where is he?

The problem on the Belgian side is also efficiency in attack. Romelu Lukaku most notably has been well off his game this tournament, after some crucial misses in front of the goal and some less-than-impressive shots on target. Belgium's big finisher is struggling to...well, finish! Can he get the job done against France?

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