These sides finished 2nd in groups D and E and face off against each other in the first knockout stage looking to book their place in the next round where they will face either Portugal or Slovenia.
After a shock defeat to Slovakia in their opening game Belgium went on to beat Romania 2-0 and draw 0-0 against Ukraine.
All of the teams in this group ended on 4 points so it came down to goal difference that put Belgium into the next round.
France are unbeaten so far but are yet reached their best in the 3 games they have played.
They started with a 1-0 victory against Austria due to an own goal before playing out a 0-0 draw to the Netherlands and drawing 1-1 to Poland to progress with 5 points.
After reaching the World Cup final in only to lose on penalties Didier Deschamps is looking to pick up his first Euros trophy.
Since he took charge in 2012 the former Juventus and Chelsea player has won the World Cup, and the Nations League however is yet to win a Euros with France’s last Euros tournament victory coming in 2000.
Kylian Mbappe returned in the last match and scored a penalty after missing the Netherlands match with a broken nose.
Belgium are the 3rd ranked nation in the World in the FIFA rankings and sit 1 place below France.
The Red Devils lost to eventual winners Italy in the Quarter Finals last time and this is their seventh appearance in this competition.
In 1980 they recorded their best ever finish losing to West Germany in the final.
Striker Romelu Lukaku has had 3 goals ruled out due to VAR in the group stages and is the all-time top goal scorer for his nation having scored 85 goals in 118 games.
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Head2Head
The 2 sides last met in the Nations League Semi Final in October 2021 and after a late goal from Theo Hernandez France won 3-2 completing a comeback from being 2-0 down.
In all competitions they have met 75 times with Belgium having won 30 France winning 26 and it ending in a draw 19 times.
This is a fixture that dates all the way back to 1904 in which they drew 3-3.
You have to go all the way back to 1984 for the last time they played in this competition with legendary goal scorer Michel Platini getting a hattrick as the French won 5-0.
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Teams News
Mbappe completed the full 90 minutes after returning to the side in the last game so is expected to keep his place in the side.
France have only scored 1 goal so far and it was from the penalty spot and with Antoine Griezmann sitting out in the last game the Atletico Madrid forward could return.
Deschamps changed formation in the last game going to a 433 rather than his usual 4231 but might revert back is he is to bring Griezmann back into the side.
They have 3 players on a yellow card so far with Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Adrien Rabiot all been given a booking.
Belgium are strengthened by the return of winger Dodi Lukebakio following his suspension in the last game. Lukebakio has made 17 appearances since making his debut in 2020.
Despite his missed chances so far Lukaku is the leading top goalscorer for his country and looks set to lead the line again.
However, if Belgium manager Domenico Tedesco is to change the forward RB Leipzig player Lois Openda is waiting for his opportunity.
Openda only made his debut 2 years ago but has already made 19 appearances for the national side. He had a very successful season for Bundesliga club RB Leipzig scoring 24 goals in 34 games.
Youri Tielmans returned after a groin injury in and has been on form grabbing a goal after only 2 minutes against Romania.
• Predicted Line-Ups France:
Maignan, Kounde, Saliba, Upamecano, Hernandez, Kante, Tchouameni, Dembele, Greizmann, Rabiot, Mbappe
Belgium: Casteels, Castagne, Faes, Vertonghen, Theate, Tielemans, Onana, Lukebakio, De Bruyne, Lukaku
• Players to watch
France- N’golo Kante At 33 years of age Kante is still proving that he is a top player in his defensive midfield position for France
. He has now made 58 appearances for the national side and started all of the group stage games.
Kante won the Man Of The Match award in both the game against Austria and the game against The Netherlands. He is the only player in the tournament so far to have won 2 Man Of The Match awards.
Leicester signed him from French club Caen in the summer of 2015 and he went on to be part of the historic side that won the Premier League in one of the greatest sporting achievements of all time.
This led to his call up to the international side and in the 2018 World Cup he played all 7 games lifting the trophy with his country.
Kante missed out on the World Cup in 2022 as he was recovering from a hamstring injury but has returned for this tournament.
He is a midfielder that often has the highest running numbers covering a lot of the ground and winning the ball back for his side. And even though he isn’t a tall midfielder he isn’t afraid to get himself stuck into tackles.
Belgium- Youri Tielemans
After impressing in 151 games for Leicester City, Aston Villa signed Tielemans on a free contract and helped the Birmingham based club reach the Champions League.
Tielemans was a youth product of Anderlecht, and he became the youngest Belgium player to make an appearance in the Champions League.
The midfielder idolises Zinedine Zidane and has is a great dribblier on the ball creating opportunities to score long range goals.
He won the Belgium Talent of the year award in 2014 and helped Anderlecht to win 2 titles during his time with the club.
For Aston Villa last season he made 32 Premier League appearances scoring 2 goals and getting 6 assists. He made 907 passes and had a pass completion rate of 86%.
• When and how to watch France vs Belgium
The game will kick off at 5:00pm BST on Monday 1st July in Dusseldorf. The fixture will be shown on ITV1 in the UK and relevant USA channels.
