The world champion France hosts Iceland in a friendly game which is going to be played at the
Stade du Roudorou in the city of Guingamp. Let’s head our attention to this match in our soccer
tips for today. It shall be a competitive clash between the best team on Earth and one really
capable team like the one which Iceland got.
It was a glorious year for France and French football. Led by Didier Deschamps, Les Bleus won
their second World Cup title. They reached the end of the road in Russia and after a glorious win
over Croatia in the final, celebrated their second World Cup crown after the triumph in 1998.
This French success is hardly a surprise. This country is working incredibly well with its young
talents, producing some incredible players in the recent years. Just look at their squad and you will
see amazing players on literally every position. Didier Deschamps is a really lucky guy to have the
opportunity to work with such a depth in his squad.
Since the end of the World Cup, France participated in two games in the Nations League – UEFA’s
newest competition. In September the world champions visited the former world champions
Germany. Their clash in Munich ended with a 0-0 draw. Both teams had some chances to score,
but in the end no goals were scored at the Allianz Arena. it’s curious that Deschamps used his
usual starting eleven from the World Cup, refusing to make any changes to it.
Few days later Les Bleus recorded their first win in the Nations League, enjoying a 2-1 success
against the Netherlands at the Stade de France. The new superstar of French football Kylian
Mbappe opened the score, but Ryan Babel equalized for the Dutch team. The winning goal for the
world champions was scored by Olivier Giroud, who in the 74th minute found the net after an assist
from Benjamin Mendy.
Since their participation at the World Cup, Iceland are not doing very well in the Nations League. In
September the Vikings conceded two heavy defeats in the competition. First they lost with 0-6
against Switzerland and three days later they were beaten with 0-3 at home by Belgium. We think
that Iceland are better than this and these results are not portraying their real quality. But clearly
they are in a difficult moment right now. Let’s see if they would be able to shake it off against
France and Switzerland in the next few days.
Few days ago Didier Deschamps revealed his squad for the next two games against Iceland and
Germany. And there are some interesting news. The coach recalled in the squad three defenders
from the Premier League – Mamadou Sakho, Kurt Zouma and Lucas Digne. For a first time in his
career, among the capped is also Tanguy Ndombele, who plays for Olympique Lyonnais.
Out of the squad once again is PSG’s midfielder Adrien Rabiot, who refused to be in the waiting list
before the World Cup. This decision from him angered Deschamps, who is now teaching him a
lesson.
But who is actually the new guy Tanguy Ndombele? Let’s take a look at him in our soccer tips for
today.
Tanguy Ndombele is a just 21-years old midfielder. He’s expecting to make his debut as a national
player in the next two games. Ndombele is a much talented box-to-box midfielder, who was linked
to big clubs like Manchester City and Tottenham. He’s just another example how good France is
working with the young talents. Last season Ndombele played in 32 Ligue 1 games for Olympique
Lyonnais and created 44 chances, which is truly an impressive stat. He also made 62 tackles,
which is a proof of his contribution in defense, too.
The French team is unbeaten since March, when Les Bleus suffered a 2-3 loss against Colombia
in a friendly game. Since 13 games played until now, France are immune to losing.
Iceland are truly going through a difficult moment right now. The Vikings are in a run of four
consecutive defeats. This run started against Nigeria in the World Cup. After this game, Iceland

lost three more – against Croatia, Switzerland and Belgium. In the last two matches, they have
conceded 9 goals, which is really worrying for the Swedish manager Erik Hamren. He replaced
Heimir Hallgrímsson after the World Cup, but so far the team’s performance under his guidance is
terryfying, to say at least. If he continues like this, it won’t be surprising if the Icleandic FA decides
to sack him and look for another option. Conceding 9 goals in just 180 minutes of football is just too
much.
Of course, the Nations League is not a priority for the French team, but they are playing for their
own prestigie, so they need to perform well. Their game against Germany won’t be easy, so this
friendly against Iceland is a good preparation before facing the Mannschaft. For Iceland, as we
said, it’s a matter of honour to stop their incredibly negative run of results. But against France it’s
going to be very hard.
That’s what we had to say about the match between France and Iceland in our soccer tips for
today. Les Bleus are the big favourite in this meeting and it’s not even debatable, especially with
Iceland’s dreadful form at the moment. For France this is mainly a preparation for the Nations
League game against Germany just a few days later. For Didier Deschamps this is also a chance
to test some of the new players he has called up for the next two games. For Iceland, on the other
hand, this is an opportunity to test themselves against the best and see if they can end their
negative run of four consecutive defeats. Their new manager Erik Hamren is not doing very well so
far, so he’d like his team to do better against the world champions. But the question is – can they?