Our prediction for this World Cup 2026 match:
France
Match Time & Date:
24/03/2021
20:45
Prediction: 3-0
Ukraine
France will be aiming to kick-off their World Cup qualifying campaign in style when they take on Ukraine at Stade de France. Les Tricolores have established themselves as one of the best teams in the world, and they are on a quest to defend the trophy at the showpiece tournament. Kylian Mbappe, who scored a brace in PSG’s 4-2 win over Olympique Lyon, will be the man to watch in the home team.
Paul Pogba has overcome his injury, while Ousmane Dembele returns to the squad following a long absence. Bayern Munchen winger Kingsley Coman has recovered from his injury as well. Considering that the Ukrainians are on a three-game losing run ahead of the trip to Paris, anything but a routine home win would be a major surprise. In the previous meeting between the two teams France crushed Ukraine 7-1 in the “City of Lights”.
Highlighted Player (Kylian Mbappé):
Kylian Mbappe is a French footballer who plays for Paris Saint-Germain as a forward. The French rising star began his youth career at AS Bondy and in 2013 he moved to AS Monaco. After making 12 appearances for Monaco B, Kylian Mbappe made his debut for the senior team in 2015. Mbappe quickly established himself as a regular goalscorer, with the teenager finding the net 15 times in 29 appearances in the Ligue 1 in the 2016/2017 season.
In 2017 he moved to fellow French club PSG on loan, with the option of making the deal permanent. Kylian Mbappe scored 13 goals in 27 appearances for les Parisiens in the 2017/2018 and it has to be noted that Unai Emery’s troops eventually won the national championship.
Speaking of his international career, Mbappe played an important role for France at the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals, with the pacey rising star scoring a brace in a thrilling 4-3 win over Argentina in the last 16 of the showpiece tournament. The PSG attacker was born in Paris on December 20, 1998.
Highlighted Team (Ukraine):
After the country had gained independence from the Soviet Union, Ukraine played their first international match in 1992, and they have come a long way since. Zbirna have only once played at the World Cup finals so far, and they did really well to reach the quarter-finals in 2006, while they co-hosted the Euro 2012 with Poland, albeit failing to get past the group stage.
The generation that secured qualification for the Euro 2016 finals in France is arguably the most talented ever, with Yevhen Konoplyanka, Andriy Yarmolenko, Ruslan Rotan and Roman Zozulya the leading players, but plenty more talent present in Mikhail Fomenko’s squad.
Similar to the trademark style of former Soviet teams, Ukraine bases their tactics on rock-solid defence and swift counter-attacks, but it has to be noted that Zbirna possess a lot more technical skills and attacking potential than most other former Russian republics. Everything suggests that the most successful period in the history of the national team is ahead of them.
