France will be bidding to make it seven straight wins in all competitions when they take on South Africa at Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Tuesday night.
Didier Deschamps's side will enter the match off the back of a 2-1 win over Ivory Coast on Friday, while South Africa played out a goalless draw with Guinea on the same evening.
Match preview
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France recorded their sixth straight victory on Friday by beating Ivory Coast 2-1, with Aurelien Tchouameni coming up with the winning goal in second-half stoppage time after Olivier Giroud had cancelled out a 19th-minute opener from Nicolas Pepe in Marseille.
Deschamps's side will round off their international break with a friendly against South Africa before turning their attention to the UEFA Nations League, which begins at home to Denmark on June 3.
The Blues will also be thinking about the 2022 World Cup, where they are expected to make a serious impression; the national team picked up 18 points from their eight matches to comfortably finish top of Group D, breezing through their qualification process.
France are the reigning world champions, having lifted the trophy for the second time back in 2018, but they disappointed at Euro 2020, losing to Switzerland in the round of 16, and it would be fair to say that their overall performance at the competition was below the expected standard.
Deschamps's team have actually not lost a single match since the defeat to Switzerland at Euro 2020, while they have been victorious in their last three friendlies against Wales, Bulgaria and Ivory Coast.
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South Africa, meanwhile, will enter the contest off the back of a goalless draw with Guinea on Friday, which proved to be their first match since losing to Ghana last November.
Hugo Broos's side have played in three World Cups, competing in the finals in 1998, 2002 and 2010, but they have not been present in the last two competitions and will also not feature at the 2022 tournament.
Indeed, South Africa finished second behind Ghana in their qualification section despite picking up 13 points from six matches, with their defeat against Ghana on November 14 proving to be decisive.
As a result, the national team will have to wait until at least 2026 to play in another World Cup, but they would certainly send out a message by beating the reigning world champions in this match.
South Africa have only been victorious in one of their last four friendly matches, which came at home to Uganda last June, but they beat France 2-1 when the two sides last locked horns at the 2010 World Cup.
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Team News
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France boss Deschamps will make a number of changes to the side that started against Ivory Coast, and there could be a spot between the sticks for Alphonse Areola.
Raphael Varane came off with an injury problem last time out, so the Manchester United defender is unlikely to feature, which will open the door for William Saliba to start.
There are also expected to be positions in the XI for the likes of Wissam Ben Yedder, Jonathan Clauss and Lucas Digne, while Kylian Mbappe, who did not feature against Ivory Coast, should come into the side.
Presnel Kimpembe and Moussa Diaby will also be hoping to earn minutes on Tuesday night, while Paul Pogba should be cleared to play despite a foot problem.
As for South Africa, Percy Tau, who is the leading goalscorer in the squad with 12, was not involved in the friendly with Guinea, but the 27-year-old is expected to play a part against France in this match.
The starting XI is likely to be similar to the one that took to the field last time out, with Evidence Makgopa featuring in the final third, but Mothobi Mvala could drop out of the midfield for Ethan Brooks.
There is also expected to be at least one alteration in a defensive area, with Rushine De Reuck coming in for Nkosinathi Sibisi, which was a change that occurred at the interval against Guinea.
France possible starting lineup:
Areola; Kounde, Saliba, L Hernandez; Clauss, Tchouameni, Pogba, Digne; Griezmann; Mbappe, Ben Yedder
South Africa possible starting lineup:
Mothwa; Mudau, Xulu, De Reuck, Mashego; Brooks, Monare; Dolly, Foster, Shandu; Makgopa
We say: France 3-1 South Africa
South Africa will certainly provide competitive opposition for France on Tuesday evening, which is what Deschamps will want ahead of the start of the UEFA Nations League. The Blues should have too much quality for their opponents, though, and we are backing a relatively comfortable home success in this game.
Top tip
Matt Law
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a France win with a probability of 66.26%. A draw had a probability of 24.1% and a win for South Africa had a probability of 9.61%.
The most likely scoreline for a France win was 1-0 with a probability of 21.25%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (16.8%) and 3-0 (8.86%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 0-0 (13.43%), while for a South Africa win it was 0-1 (5.72%). The actual scoreline of 5-0 was predicted with a 1.1% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that France would win this match.
