Sweden v France: World Cup Qualifier live on Sky Sports
France’s World Cup Qualifier away in Sweden is one of nine matches live on Sky Sports on Friday evening.
Les Bleus are in a strong position to qualify automatically for next year’s World Cup in Russia, after taking 13 points from their opening five Group A games.
But arguably their toughest test came against Sweden at the Stade de France last November. Emil Forsberg put the visitors ahead early in the second half on that occasion, only for Paul Pogba and Dimitri Payet to strike back and hand the hosts a 2-1 victory.
Defeat ended Sweden’s unbeaten record in the group, but they sit a strong second and could overtake France with a home victory in their meeting in Stockholm on Friday evening.
Manager Didier Deschamps said Sweden were a side that showed „very good organisation“ and noted the pace and ball-striking of Forsberg as a threat.
He said the Swedes were a „solid and athletic team who know their football well“, pointing out their under-21 team are the reigning European champions.
„Collectively they’re a strong team,“ Deschamps added, speaking at a press conference shown on lequipe.fr.
The Sweden team have French league insiders to call upon, notably Toulouse forward Ola Toivonen, who also previously played at Rennes.
Teenage Monaco forward Kylian Mbappe could have an important role to play, and Toivonen recognises the threat posed by the in-demand youngster.
Toivonen said: „Mbappe is an incredible player to be just 18, Totally awesome. I don’t think people understand how good he is. He is quick, very quick over the first few metres and a skilful finisher. Now he has also gained experience of big matches. He’s a player to watch out for.“
The match will be live on Sky Sports 1 from 7.40pm on Friday evening, while Estonia v Belgium is live on Sky Sports 3 and Latvia v Portugal is on Sky Sports 5.
Five more matches – Netherlands v Luxembourg, Andorra v Hungary, Belarus v Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina v Greece and Faroe Islands v Switzerland – will also be shown on the Red Button.
Full Time Result
Sweden v France