The Germany national team will face France on Tuesday (20:45 CEST) in their third UEFA Nations League game. The battle between these two giants promises to be a classic. DFB.de has rounded up all the facts before the game in the Stade de France.
France have the advantage: France vs Germany. Current World champions against former World champions. Both nations have played exactly 30 games against each other. The Germans have won nine, 8 draws and 13 loses against the French with a goal ratio of 45:47. Only England (16) and Italy (15) have more victories against Germany. Since 1990, Germany have lost seven out of twelve of their games against France, won only twice and remain seven games without a goal.
Draws to start the Nations League: The first game between these two nations in the UEFA Nations League ended 0-0 in Munich. Last November, Germany drew 2-2 with France, with Timo Werner and Lars Stindl scoring for Germany and Alexandre Lacazette scoring a brace for France. Thnks to the draw against France, Germany ended the whole of 2017 unbeaten (11 wins, 4 draws), which was the first time a nation had stayed unbeaten since 1997.
Football takes a step back: In France on the 13th November 2015, France beat Germany 2-0. However, a harrowing event overshadowed what happened on the pitch. There was a terrorist attack outside the stadium, at the Bataclan theatre and in four other places in Paris. Tragically, France international Lassana Diarra’s cousin was a victim of these attacks.
Strong home record for France: Germany have only won two and drawn eight of their 13 games in France; March 1935 (3-1) and February 2013 (2-1) are their only victories against France in Paris. Only against Sweden do Germany have a poorer away record.
France undefeated in a long time: In their last 12 games, Germany have three wins, four draws and five losses. France have gone 14 games unbeaten since their 2-3 defeat to Colombia in March, winning 15 and drawing six games.
Nearly perfect: Joshua Kimmich has played 33 out of the last 34 Germany internationals and has only been off the pitch for nine minutes throughout all these games. Kimmich did not play in the 2-2 draw with France in Köln in 2017.
Draxler’s teammates: French young superstar Kylian Mbappe has scored nine goals in his last 12 appearances for France. He scored in the World Cup Final against Croatia (4-2), the win against the Netherlands (2-1) and most recently against Iceland (2-2). In Ligue 1, he has eight goals in five games and in the Champions League two goals in two games so far this season for Paris Saint-Germain. His teammates at PSG include two Germany internationals; Julian Draxler and Thilo Kehrer.
The Germany national team will face France on Tuesday (20:45 CEST) in their third UEFA Nations League game. The battle between these two giants promises to be a classic. DFB.de has rounded up all the facts before the game in the Stade de France.
France have the advantage: France vs Germany. Current World champions against former World champions. Both nations have played exactly 30 games against each other. The Germans have won nine, 8 draws and 13 loses against the French with a goal ratio of 45:47. Only England (16) and Italy (15) have more victories against Germany. Since 1990, Germany have lost seven out of twelve of their games against France, won only twice and remain seven games without a goal.
Draws to start the Nations League: The first game between these two nations in the UEFA Nations League ended 0-0 in Munich. Last November, Germany drew 2-2 with France, with Timo Werner and Lars Stindl scoring for Germany and Alexandre Lacazette scoring a brace for France. Thnks to the draw against France, Germany ended the whole of 2017 unbeaten (11 wins, 4 draws), which was the first time a nation had stayed unbeaten since 1997.
Football takes a step back: In France on the 13th November 2015, France beat Germany 2-0. However, a harrowing event overshadowed what happened on the pitch. There was a terrorist attack outside the stadium, at the Bataclan theatre and in four other places in Paris. Tragically, France international Lassana Diarra’s cousin was a victim of these attacks.
Strong home record for France: Germany have only won two and drawn eight of their 13 games in France; March 1935 (3-1) and February 2013 (2-1) are their only victories against France in Paris. Only against Sweden do Germany have a poorer away record.
France undefeated in a long time: In their last 12 games, Germany have three wins, four draws and five losses. France have gone 14 games unbeaten since their 2-3 defeat to Colombia in March, winning 15 and drawing six games.
Nearly perfect: Joshua Kimmich has played 33 out of the last 34 Germany internationals and has only been off the pitch for nine minutes throughout all these games. Kimmich did not play in the 2-2 draw with France in Köln in 2017.
Draxler’s teammates: French young superstar Kylian Mbappe has scored nine goals in his last 12 appearances for France. He scored in the World Cup Final against Croatia (4-2), the win against the Netherlands (2-1) and most recently against Iceland (2-2). In Ligue 1, he has eight goals in five games and in the Champions League two goals in two games so far this season for Paris Saint-Germain. His teammates at PSG include two Germany internationals; Julian Draxler and Thilo Kehrer.
World Champions and ranked 1 in the world: In the FIFA rankings, France are currently joint top with Belgium. Germany currently lie in twelfth with Chile.
World champions and European champions twice each: France celebrated being World Champions for the first time since 1988. In the final, they won 3-0 with two goals from Zidane and one from Petit. This success was repeated by Didier Deschamps’ team in Russia this year. This time they faced surprise finalists Croatia and won 4-2. France have also won the European Championships twice (1984 and 2000). Only Germany and Spain have won it more.
Records: World Champion Lilian Thuram has the most caps for France with 142 (1994-2008) whilst Thierry Henry has scored the most with 51 goals between 1997 and 2010.
A World Champion as a player and as a coach: Didier Deschamps has been head coach of the France national team since 2012 and took France to the quarter-finals in 2014 and then became World Champions in 2016 in Russia. When France were last World Champions in 1998, Deschamps was able to lift the trophy as captain. He is one of three players to have done this, alongside Mario Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer. He played a total of 113 games and scored four goals for France.
Lots of experience: France have made five changes to the squad that won the World Cup in France. Benjamin Mendy, Adil Rami, Samuel Umtiti, Corentin Tolisso and Nebil Fekir have been replaced by Mamadou Sakho, Lucas Digne, Kurt Zouma, Tanguy Ndombele and Dimitri Payet. Lyon’s 21-year-old midfieler Ndombele made his debut in the 2-2 draw with Iceland as he came in for Paul Pogba. Hugo Lloris is the most experienced player in the team and has 105 caps for France.
Players in the Bundesliga: VfB Stuttgart’s Benjamin Pavard is in the current France squad. Bayern’s Corentin Tolisso misses out due to injury. The other French player who has been in the Bundesliga is Ousmane Dembele (2016/2017 with Borussia Dortmund).
