France vs Spain – International Friendly – Preview

Posted on March 28, 2017 by Sreya

France vs Spain – France hosts Spain at the Stade de France on 27th March, Wednesday in an international friendly as the international break continues.

France are coming off a 3-1 win over Luxembourg in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers for the UEFA-affiliated nations, as a result of which they are still top of Group A. Spain, meanwhile, have thirteen points and are in the first position in Group G, ahead of Italy who have an equal number of points.

The battle with France will be a good test for Spain ahead of the crucial tie against Italy in October.

Team News

Paul Pogba, Adil Rami and Djibril Sidibe are sidelined through injuries for France while Spain do not have any injury concerns. Diego Costa has been declared fit after an injury scare in their last game.

France Possible Starting Lineup: Hugo Lloris, Christophe Jallet, Laurent Koscielny, Samuel Umiti, Layvin Kurzawa, N’Golo Kante, Blaise Matuidi, Ousmane Dembele, Antoine Griezmann, Dimitri Payet, Olivier Giroud.

Spain Possible Starting Lineup: David de Gea, Daniel Carvajal, Sergio Ramos, Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Thiago Alcantara, Pedro, Alvaro Morata, Vitolo.

“We could have scored more goals and also put ourselves in less difficulty on fewer occasions. But the main thing is that we have taken three points and scored three goals, so that is pretty positive.”

– Didier Deschamps, after France’s win over Luxembourg.

Contributor’s Pick

According to France vs Spain H2H Stats, the last five games between these two nations ended in three wins for Spain, one win for France and a draw.

France are so far unbeaten in their World Cup qualifiers so far – their last defeats were to England and Portugal back in November 2015. Spain are in a prolific form as well, scoring twenty three goals in their previous seven international games, also unbeaten in their FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.

It should be a closely contested affair and a 1-1 draw is the most likely outcome of this high-profile friendly match.