France come into this summer as pre-tournament favorites for not just UEFA Euro 2024 but also the men's soccer at the Olympic Games. Les Bleus' talent pool is brimming with top established players and prospects and no team will be considered stronger -- at least on paper -- going to Germany. A glance at Didier Deschamps' Euro squad and Thierry Henry's Olympics group underlines the stunning array of talent available to French teams right now.
New Real Madrid signing Kylian Mbappe will captain France as they start their campaign in a winnable Group D against Austria, Netherlands and Poland with kick off coming up on Monday. However, the French superstar will also hope to skipper his country on home soil later in the summer with a shot at winning Olympic gold.
Mbappe's future might be settled and Deschamps knows that Olivier Giroud is following ex-captain Hugo Lloris and Raphael Varane into international retirement but is this his own last dance? Speculation has grown of late although he is contracted until the FIFA 2026 World Cup which will be co-hosted by Mexico, Canada and the U.S.
We look at what to expect from France across both summer tournaments.
Euro 2024
Les Bleus are favorites for this summer's European title with a full-strength squad except for Paris Saint-Germain's Lucas Hernandez who was desperately unlucky to get injured so late in the season. A group with Austria, Netherlands and Poland holds little fear for Deschamps' squad who normally grow into these tournaments but it will be interesting to see the new squad dynamics. Gone are former cornerstones Lloris and Varane with Mbappe bringing a different leadership approach and new senior figures emerging such as Adrien Rabiot behind Antoine Griezmann.
It is quite astonishing when you look at the quality of the players with 15 caps or fewer who did not get picked for duty this summer. Chelsea's Christopher Nkunku, Axel Disasi, Malo Gusto and Wesley Fofana, Aston Villa's Moussa Diaby and Boubacar Kamara, OGC Nice's Khephren Thuram and Jean-Clair Todibo as well as SS Lazio's Matteo Guendouzi and RB Leipzig's Castello Lukeba is a lot of unused talent.
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Olympics
Some names originally featured in both the Euro and Olympic conversations but Henry has his work cut out after a flurry of early rejections. The main topic of debate is Mbappe's non-selection -- for now -- but one overage spot being saved should Real allow him to participate. The Spanish giants could offer up an alternative with Aurelien Tchouameni's Euro possibly compromised through injury but France's priority remains Mbappe.
PSG have blocked Warren Zaire-Emery and Bradley Barcola while Lille OSC are withdrawing Lucas Chevalier, Leny Yoro and Bafode Diakite and Bayern Munich have also blocked Mathys Tel. With Alexandre Lacazette and Jean-Philippe Mateta as the two overage players -- for now -- it illustrates the challenges that Henry faces to live up to the hosts' favorites tag. Olympique Lyonnais' surprise at the selection of Lacazette suggests that other clubs are queueing up to make life harder for him too with further rejections.
French market
All of this is against the backdrop of massive uncertainty at club level with professional soccer -- Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 -- plunged into doubt due to the absence of a television rights deal from next season onwards. Suddenly, this means few French clubs -- even PSG -- cannot really move for any new players right now because of their precarious finances which suddenly creates a great opportunity for foreign clubs to go shopping in France and get themselves some superb value for money as the clubs fight to keep their heads above water and hope for a miracle financial solution. French clubs export talent better than most but the idea was to turn the tide and start to keep more domestic produce in the domestic game to improve its value but the opposite could be about to happen and a successful Euro and Olympics would only attract more vultures to this unwanted situation.
