Preview:France vs Azerbaijan - prediction, team news, lineups

France will be aiming to make it three wins from their three 2026 World Cup qualification fixtures when they continue their Group D campaign with a home fixture against Azerbaijan on Friday.

Les Bleus are top of Group D on six points, while the visitors are bottom of the section on one point, two points behind second-placed Iceland ahead of the next set of fixtures.

Match preview

France were not exactly at their best in their two World Cup qualification fixtures in September, but they managed to post two wins, beating Ukraine 2-0 before recording a 2-1 victory over Iceland.

Didier Deschamps's side actually had to come from behind to overcome Iceland, with Kylian Mbappe and Bradley Barcola on the scoresheet after the visitors had taken a surprise led through Andri Gudjohnsen, and six points from two matches has left them at the top of Group D.

France are two-time World Cup winners, lifting the famous trophy in 1998 and 2018, while they were runners-up in 2022, losing an incredible final against Argentina on penalties.

The Blues are again considered to be among the favourites to win the trophy next year, and it would be one of the biggest shocks of all time if they failed to qualify for the famous tournament - that last occurred in 1994.

France have only faced Azerbaijan on two previous occasions, which occurred during qualification for Euro 1996, posting 2-0 and 10-0 wins against the National Team.

Azerbaijan opened their 2026 World Cup qualification campaign with a 5-0 defeat to Iceland on September 5, but they did manage to recover four days later, holding Ukraine to a 1-1 draw.

One point from two matches has left the National Team bottom of Group D, two points behind second-placed Iceland and five from France, who are looking for a third straight win in the section.

Aykhan Abbasov, who is the head coach of Samaxi FK, remains in charge of Azerbaijan on a temporary basis following the exit of Fernando Santos towards the start of last month.

Santos lost nine of his 11 matches in charge, and Azerbaijan are without a victory since a friendly with Kazakhstan in the middle of June, while their last competitive win was back in November 2023.

The National Team are certainly up against it in Group D, but a positive result against Ukraine in their next match on October 13 would leave them in a confident mood ahead of their two November fixtures.

France World Cup Qualifying - Europe form:

France form (all competitions):

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Azerbaijan World Cup Qualifying - Europe form:

Azerbaijan form (all competitions):

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Team News

France will be without the services of Real Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni, with the 25-year-old serving a suspension following his red card against Iceland in the team's last match.

Bradley Barcola, Marcus Thuram and Ousmane Dembele are notable absentees through injury, so there will have to be some changes to the side that started against Iceland last time out.

Adrien Rabiot is in line to be introduced in midfield, while Mbappe and Michael Olise could be joined in the final third of the field by Kingsley Coman and Hugo Ekitike.

As for Azerbaijan, there are not expected to be any surprises when it comes to their starting side for this match, with Renat Dadashov and Mahir Emreli, who have netted 10 times between them for the national side, set to feature in the final third of the field.

The leading goalscorer in the squad is Emin Mahmudov with 14, and he is in line to win his 55th cap, while there should also be a spot in the side for Anatolii Nuriiev.

Azerbaijan are expected to operate in a back five against France, with Rahman Dashdamirov potentially given the nod down the right for the visitors.

France possible starting lineup:

Maignan; Kounde, Saliba, Upamecano, T. Hernandez; Rabiot, Kone; Coman, Olise, Ekitike; Mbappe

Azerbaijan possible starting lineup:

Mahammadaliyev; Dashdamirov, Badalov, Mustafazada, Krivotsyuk, Aliyev; Khaybulaev, Mahmudov, Nuriiev; Emreli, Dadashov

We say: France 2-0 Azerbaijan

France will be missing some important players on Friday, and Azerbaijan are capable of making this an uncomfortable match for the Blues. That said, we are expecting the hosts to navigate their way to an important victory in Group D to move onto nine points in the section.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.