All Eyes on Kylian Mbappe as France Aim to Live Up to Euro 2024 Billing
News 18France head into Euro 2024 as quite possibly the standout candidates to lift the trophy but their prospects may to a large extent depend on Kylian Mbappe not being distracted by his club future. “The context around the France team is different,” Deschamps said last week as his squad started to gather to prepare for the Euros at their Clairefontaine training base deep in the forest an hour outside Paris. Before that, Mbappe had only just emerged at Monaco, and had not yet played for France, when Deschamps’ team agonisingly lost the Euro 2016 final on home soil, going down in extra time to Portugal. Kante back, Griezmann key Deschamps’ team has changed since the Qatar World Cup, with goalkeeper and captain Hugo Lloris having retired along with centre-back Raphael Varane. “We are going to be the favourites, certainly, but we need to prove it on the pitch,” pointed out the Atletico Madrid man, as France prepare to take on the Netherlands, Austria and Poland in Group D. Deschamps insists it is “a difficult group”, although if all goes to form they could find themselves on a collision course to face England in the semi-finals.