France Predicted Starting Line-Up

It has been plain sailing (mostly) for France in Euro 2016 so far, and Didier Deschamps’ side has a wonderful opportunity to emulate the successes of the European Championship squad of 1984 and the World Cup starting line-up of 1998 in winning a major trophy on home soil.

Deschamps will have some tough decisions to make in the next 48 hours – will he retain the eleven who battled so well to overcome Germany in the semi-finals, or will he revert to the starting eleven that had served him so well up until that point?

Goalkeeper: Hugo Lloris

One player whose place is certain is goalkeeper Huge Lloris, who has tended to the net in all six of France’s matches thus far.

The team’s inspirational captain who leads from the front, Lloris has contributed three clean sheets in his last half dozen starts.

Defence: Bacary Sagna, Samuel Umtiti, Laurent Koscielny, Patrice Evra

The experienced full-back pairing, Patrice Evra and Bacary Sagna, have barely put a foot wrong all tournament, and while they offer little in an attacking sense Les Bleus supporters can be satisfied that they have a strong set of defenders patrolling the flanks.

Laurent Koscielny has grown to become a key part of this French backline, and he will surely be joined by Samuel Umtiti for the final in place of Ail Rami. Umtiti, who is set to join Barcelona in a £25 million deal, looked tentative when replacing the suspended Rami against Iceland in the quarter-finals, but he was at his absolute best to keep Germany at bay and book his place in the final.

Midfield: N’Golo Kante, Blaise Matuidi

Blaise Matuidi has been ever present in France’s progression to the final, and the PSG an is a fantastic presence to have commanding the midfield.

Who will be his partner though? Deschamps has favoured Paul Pogba in a deeper role of late, with Moussa Sissoko on the right flank. This enables Antoine Griezmann to slip into his favoured ‘number ten’ role.

But we fancy that Deschamps will want a bit more defensive authority in the middle of the park for the final, so expect Leicester’s energetic N’Golo Kante to return to the side in place of Sissoko.

Attack: Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba, Dimitri Payet

Kante’s return will push Pogba forward into an advanced position, and that means that Griezmann will probably pull slightly to the right – although with Portugal offering little going forward, expect the Atletico star to enjoy a free role behind Olivier Giroud.

Over on the left flank and the ever-impressive Dimitri Payet will retain his place as another attacking outlet for the French.

Striker: Olivier Giroud

Love him or hate him, Giroud will lead the line for France on Sunday. With three goals in six games his ratio is good, and while he lacks the pace to really frighten defenders on the ground, his aerial ability and link-up play are excellent.