France were drawn with Switzerland, Romania and Albania in Group A during the UEFA European Championships draw on Saturday evening.
The hosts will get the 15th edition of the tournament underway against the Romanians at the Stade de France on 10 July. France will then travel to the Stade Velodrome to take on Albania before ending their group stage campaign against the Swiss in Lille.
The new format also sees the best third placed teams in the groups advance to the knockout stages, with the French potentially encountering one of these four sides in the Round of 16 if they win their respective group.
The draw, taken place at the Palais des Congres at 5:30pm GMT, saw Les Blues as top seeds due to their position as hosts and were handed a relatively simple group as a result. The much anticipated draw involved a record 24 countries and were placed in four pots of six depending on their UEFA rankings.
Opposition qualify without need for play-offs
Didier Deschamps’ men have been exempt from competitive football since their 2014 World Cup loss to Germany but their future opponents all endured the qualifying process. The Swiss advanced convincingly through their weak group, finishing second to an undefeated England side, and are an experienced unit that possesses an abundance of first division players. Both Albania and Romania booked their place in France courtesy of their fine defensive resolve, conceding just seven goals between them with Lorik Cana and Vlad Chiriches marshalling their respective back fours.
The French side have won six of the 10 friendlies played throughout this calendar year though, losing to Albania, Brazil, Belgium and most recently England in an emotional night at Wembley Stadium. The former defeated a strong France team earlier in the year courtesy of an Ergys Kace strike and this came just under seven months after Gianni De Biasi’s side earned a draw in Saint-Denis. Overall these sides have met on six occasions, with Les Tricolores winning four of these meetings. The nation’s record with Romania is slightly mixed, winning just over half of their encounters.
Deschamps stated afterwards that it is “always difficult to comment on a draw” but did say that he knows the three opponents well. The ex-Marseille midfielder said that his management team “studied the Swiss before the World Cup” as they also faced them in the group stage last summer. The 47-year-old did say that he will “not be suprised by the quality” of the Albanians and will be “wary” of Romania due to their qualifying form.
France could be without star striker Karim Benzema for the competition as the Real Madrid man was formally suspended from the national team this week following allegations of blackmail involving team-mate Mathieu Valbuena. Even without the 27-year-old, the hosts should have the quality to breeze through Group A.