Arsenal defender William Saliba aggravated a back injury while playing against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final last week. He remains a major doubt for the tournament itself, and was permanently ruled out of this friendly match, leaving a huge void in Deschamps’ back line.
Dayot Upamecano will strengthen the defence, and Ibrahima Konate is widely expected to slot into the starting line-up as he searches for a new club.
Furthermore, Manchester City’s Rayan Chergui is expected to get a golden opportunity to cement his place in Deschamps’ plans for the Championship, starting in the No. 10 role behind Marcus Thuram. Meanwhile, all eyes are on Kylian Mbappe, who is just one goal away from equaling Olivier Giroud’s record as France’s top scorer.
Ivory Coast will have to do without defensive mainstays Ivan N’Dika and Clement Akpa, who will miss out through injury, leaving Ousmane Diomande and Gila Doue to deal with the unenviable task of containing Mbappe and Michael Olise.
The expected formation for the match between France and Ivory Coast
France: minyan; Konate, Konate, Upamecano, Te Hernandez; Choameni, Rabiot; Dembele, East, Mbappe; Swelling
Ivory Coast: Yu Fofana; Singo, O. Diamond, Ndika, Konan; Sancar, Casey, S. Fofana; Diallo, Y. Diamond, Adingra.
Where to watch France and Ivory Coast: TV and online broadcast
The match can be watched in the UK on Amazon through their Prime PPV service. Game stream here It costs £2.99.
France and Ivory Coast match statistics
- Kylian Mbappe is just one goal away from equaling Olivier Giroud as the top scorer in French history.
- France heads into Thursday night’s match on a nine-game unbeaten streak, having scored at least two goals in each of those matches.
- This is the fourth high-level meeting between the two countries. France has a slight historical advantage with two victories and one draw in its previous three matches. The last encounter ended in a narrow 2-1 victory for France in a friendly match in 2022.
- Ivory Coast have proven to be an exceptionally tough team to crack under Emers Faye, managing to go through their entire World Cup qualifying campaign completely unbeaten.
Predict the result of the match between France and Ivory Coast
With both directors managing their workloads ahead of the trip to North America, it is unlikely to turn into a chaotic shootout. Expect a very physical and tactical battle.
The pure individual quality of Mbappé, Olise and a hungry Chirqui would give France a narrow margin at home.
prediction: France 2-1 Ivory Coast
