Heading for the quarter-finals. After its victory (1-3) this Sunday against Italy, the France team completed its Nations League group stage in first place. Assured of being qualified even before the match kicked off in Milan, the Blues’ sole objective was to take the lead in Group 2 from the Transalpines, by winning by at least two goals.
Contract fulfilled with this victory on the San Siro pitch thanks to Adrien Rabiot’s double and Guglielmo Vicario’s own goal. A result which promises Didier Deschamps’ men a less tough draw than the one which would have been reserved for them if they had finished second. Indeed, by winning, Mike Maignan and his team won the right to avoid the three other group winners (Germany, Spain, Portugal) during the draw for the final phase, scheduled for Friday November 22 in Nyon (Switzerland), from 12 p.m.
𝑹𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒛-𝒗𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒆𝒏 𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒅𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒆! 🙌
3-1 success against Italy and our Blues finish 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐄𝐑𝐒 in their Nations League group 😄🔥#ITAFRA | #FiersdetreBleus pic.twitter.com/IDPZhoa98A
— Team de France ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) November 17, 2024
A reunion with the Netherlands?
Rather than these three juggernauts of world football, the Blues will face one of the other three runners-up, since they will not be able to fall back on Italy. Currently, only one of them is known: the Netherlands, certain to finish behind the Mannschaft in group 3.
In group 4, the situation is not yet clear, since behind Spain, Serbia and Denmark face each other on Monday evening in a decisive match for qualification. The matter is also tight in group 1, where Croatia and Scotland are still able to obtain the second ticket after the one already composted by Portugal, while Poland is currently 3rd but can no longer qualify.
A menu potentially synonymous with a reunion for the Blues, who have already crossed paths with the Dutch during the Euro 2024 qualifiers, for two successes (4-0, 2-1) and a draw (0-0) at the occasion of the group stage of the European Championship.
An impact on the 2026 World Cup qualifiers
Scheduled to be played on March 20 and 23, 2025, the quarter-finals will be played in the form of a two-way clash. As in the Champions League or the Europa League, the away goal rule no longer applies and in the event of a tie, the two teams will play overtime. Having finished leader of its group, the French team will travel to the first leg before hosting three days later.
Note that the draw for the semi-finals (June 4 and 5) will be made immediately after that for the quarters, which will allow the Blues to know their potential path to the Nations League title next Friday.
The presence of N’Golo Kanté’s partners in the quarter-finals ensures that they will not begin qualifying for the 2026 World Cup (draw on December 13 in Zurich) before June. And if they reached the Final Four, they would be placed in a group of four and would then only enter the competition in September 2025. For the record, in the Europe zone, the first in each of the twelve groups will be qualified for the first 48-a-side World Cup (June 11 to July 19, 2026 in the United States, Canada and Mexico).
They will be accompanied by the four winners of the four-a-side tournaments, which will bring together, in March 2026, the twelve runners-up in the group and four teams benefiting from their ranking in the Nations League. During the draw, France (world number 2) will be guaranteed to be in pot 1, which will guarantee it avoids the eleven other highest ranked teams in the FIFA rankings.
