The Blues are set. After a World Cup organized in Qatar at the end of 2022 and won by Argentina at the expense of the France team, the draw for Euro 2024 delivered its verdict, this Saturday, December 2, in Hamburg. Authors of a remarkable run during the qualifiers (seven victories and a draw in eight matches), the men of Didier Deschamps, operated on and absent for this meeting, appeared in hat 1 and now know the identity of their future opponents during the group stage of the competition.
Placed among the top seeds alongside Germany (host country), Portugal, Spain, Belgium and England, the vice-world champions – who had inherited the group of death in 2020 – could logically expect a relatively lenient draw but the debates will ultimately be quite tough. Thus, the French team, placed in group D, will begin its tournament against Austria on Monday June 17 in Dusseldorf, and will then be opposed to the Netherlands, who have already crossed paths with the Blues twice during qualifying, in Leipzig, on Friday 21. Finally, the Tricolores will face the winner of the route A play-offs (Poland, Estonia, Wales, Finland) in Dortmund, on Tuesday, June 25.
A tricky group for the Blues!
A draw that is far from obvious for Antoine Griezmann’s teammates, who will therefore have to show rigor to avoid experiencing a terrible disappointment. Note that the Blues could potentially find Belgium or even Portugal during the round of 16. For the rest of the draw, Germany, host country and present in group A, inherited Scotland, Hungary and Switzerland. Under the eyes of many stars such as Steeve Mac Manaman, Angelos Charisteas, Brian Lauprud, Tomas Rosicky, Ricardo Quresma, Blaise Matuidi, Wesley Sneijder, Sami Khedira and David Silva, the draw also reserved a group of death.
With this in mind, Spain, Croatia, Italy and Sylvinho’s Albania will find themselves in Group B. Among the other favorites for the final title, England, placed in Pool C, will be on the opposite side to Slovenia, Denmark and Serbia. For its part, Belgium will cross swords with Slovakia, Romania and the winner of the path B play-offs (Israel, Iceland, Bosnia, Ukraine). Finally, Portugal will find, in group F, Turkey, the winner of the path C play-offs (Georgia, Luxembourg, Greece, Kazakhstan) and the Czech Republic.
The full group stage draw
Group A
Germany (host country)
Scotland
Hungary
Swiss
Group B
Spain
Croatia
Italy
Albania
Group C
Slovenia
Denmark
Serbia
England
Group D
Winner of the Route A play-offs (Poland, Estonia, Wales, Finland)
The Netherlands
Austria
France
Group E
Belgium
Slovakia
Romania
Winner of the track B play-offs (Israel, Iceland, Bosnia, Ukraine)
Group F
Türkiye
Winner of the Route C jump-offs (Georgia, Luxembourg, Greece, Kazakhstan)
Portugal
Czech Republic
Live commentary of the Euro 2024 draw
Thank you everyone for following this live commentary. Now it’s time for the draw for the group stage to find out more about what awaits the France team from June 14, 2024.
A few seconds before the start of the Euro 2024 draw, Guy Stéphan appeared at the microphone of Saber Desfarges. The opportunity for the Blues assistant to give news of Didier Deschamps, recently operated on and absent this Saturday evening. “Didier Deschamps is better, he will pay attention to the draw and he will be better in a few days”declared Stéphan in particular before admitting to wanting to avoid Croatia, the Netherlands or even Italy…
Historically lucky in the draws, Didier Deschamps, absent in Hamburg due to an operation, could however relive the difficult scenario of the last Euro with a very strong group to start the competition. Despite a seeded position, the Blues could indeed cross paths with certain formidable nations such as Denmark (traditional opponent of the Blues in the final phase), the Netherlands and Italy, title holder but placed in the hat 4. Croatia, Hungary, Serbia or even Switzerland, executioner of the Blues in 2021, should also be avoided…
If the French team had inherited the group of death during the last Euro, this time it could inherited a much more affordable group, in particular thanks to its remarkable performance during the qualifiers (7 victories and 1 draw during the 8 qualifying matches). Thus, the Blues could inherit Albania, Slovenia and play-off C (Georgia, Luxembourg, Greece, Kazakhstan).
Before knowing the 3 opponents of the France team for the group stage of Euro 2024, here is a quick reminder of the progress of the upcoming draw. With this in mind, Germany will automatically be placed in Group A and will play the opening match against the “A2” team in Munich. Subsequently, a UEFA ambassador will draw each of the five remaining teams from hat 1 one by one to find out their group (from B to F) before determining the position of each team in its group (B1, B2, B3, B4, etc) and thus determine the order of matches in each group. Once all the teams from hat 1 have been drawn, the process will be repeated for those from hat 2, 3 and 4. Note, finally, that in the absence of Russia, Kosovo or even Azerbaijan among the qualified, there will be no restrictions linked to geopolitics during this draw.
In a few minutes, the France team will know its opponents for the group stage of Euro 2024. Here is an overview of the different possible draws for the Blues. If certain scenarios seem favorable to Didier Deshamps’ men, others could however prove much more tricky.
Euro 2024 draw: France’s potential opponents are known
The different selections qualified for Euro 2024 will soon be fixed. On the Hamburg side, everything is now ready and the verdict is getting closer…
A few months before the opening of Euro 2024, here are the possible gains for the different qualified nations. If the participation fee for this competition is set at 9.25 million euros, each team will pocket 1 million euros in the event of a victory and 500,000 euros for a draw. Qualification for the 8th will bring in 1.5 million euros. 2.5 for the quarters and 4 million for the semi-finals. Finally, the finalists will receive an additional payment of 5 million euros and the European champion will be entitled to an additional 8 million. Therefore, the maximum amount that the champion team can reach, if it has won all three group matches, is 28.25 million euros. A nice jackpot.
From June 14 to July 14, Euro 2024 will pass through 10 German stadiums (Munich, Dortmund, Cologne, Leipzig, Hamburg, etc.) with a grand final organized in Berlin.
Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann volunteered to attend the draw for the Euro 2024 group stage this Saturday evening. Due to the snowstorm which hit Germany and particularly Munich – the match between Bayern and Union Berlin was also postponed – the former Bavarian technician was unable to take the plane and therefore drove 800km to arrive in Hamburg.
Host country of Euro 2024 which will take place from June 14 to July 14, Germany, placed in hat 1, will soon be determined. A few minutes before the draw, Julian Nagelsmann, the coach, is there, as is the legend Philip Lahm, and Rudi Völler, the technical director.
Operated after back pain for several weeks, Didier Deschamps – who had to undergo surgery on Tuesday evening – will not be present at the draw this Saturday evening in Hamburg. In the absence of the Blues coach, Guy Stéphan, his faithful assistant, will therefore represent the 2018 world champions.
Among the 12 play-offs, three teams have yet to qualify. Last Thursday, UEFA carried out the draw for these play-offs which will take place on March 21 and 26. As a reminder, there are three paths (see below) and in each path there will be two semi-finals, then a final. The three winning countries of the three finals will then go to Germany.
Path A
Poland-Estonia
Wales-Finland
Path B
Israel-Iceland
Bosnia-Ukraine
Path C
Georgia-Luxembourg
Greece-Kazakhstan
Authors of a remarkable run during the qualifiers (seven victories and a draw in eight matches), Didier Deschamps’ men appear in pot 1. Placed among the top seeds alongside Germany (host country), Portugal, Spain, Belgium and England, the vice-world champions – who inherited the group of death in 2020 – can therefore logically expect a relatively lenient draw.
Hat 1
Germany (host country), Portugal, France, Spain, Belgium, England
Hat 2
Hungary, Denmark, Albania, Austria, Romania, Türkiye
Hat 3
Netherlands, Scotland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Croatia
Hat 4
Serbia, Italy, Switzerland, winner of the jump-off route A, winner of the jump-off route B, winner of the jump-off route C
It’s D-day for the draw for Euro 2024. This Saturday evening, at 6 p.m., the France team will know who it will face next June, during the group stage of the competition in Germany.
