WORLD CUP 2026 · GROUP IEUROPE

France

At the first 48-team World Cup, hosted across USA, Canada and Mexico from 11 June to 19 July 2026. Drawn in Group I with Senegal, Norway, Iraq.

#1
FIFA rank
I
Group
3
Group fixtures
7
PL stars
THE GROUP

France vs the rest of Group I

FIFA ranks at draw time. Top two from the group advance directly to the Round of 32; the eight best third-place finishers across all 12 groups also progress.

ONSIDE INTELLIGENCE · POWERED BY THE ENGINE
AI-MODELLED

France's tournament path — the fantasy angle

QUALIFY %
77%
to reach R32
GROUP xP
6.9
across 3 games
EXPECTED FINISH
#1 in group
WC FANTASY CAPTAIN(C)
Rayan Cherki
Man City
Highest projected impact in this squad
LIKELY SCORERGOAL
Rayan Cherki
Man City
Top attacking PL contributor
DIFFERENTIALDIFF
Jean-Philippe Mateta
Crystal Palace
Lower-owned, upside play
TOP 3 CONTRIBUTORS · PROJECTED PTS/90
1
Rayan Cherki
5.6
2
Jean-Philippe Mateta
5.5
3
Malo Gusto
4.6
VERDICTStrong qualification probability (~77%). Build around Rayan Cherki for World Cup Fantasy.
SHARE FRANCE'S TOURNAMENT
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FIXTURE DIFFICULTY HEATMAP
CELL COLOUR = RANK DELTA

France's 3 group matches at a glance

Difficulty by pre-tournament FIFA rank delta. Acid means France is the favourite; amber is a coin-toss; red means the underdog. Switches to actual-result colour once each match is played.

MD1H
Senegal
FIFA #14
+13 rank delta
Tue 16 Jun
MD2H
Iraq
FIFA #57
+56 rank delta
Mon 22 Jun
MD3A
Norway
FIFA #31
+30 rank delta
Fri 26 Jun
3
Easy
0
Toss
0
Hard

France is FIFA #1. Group avg rank is #26 25 places stronger than the group mean.

OFFICIAL SQUAD · 26 PLAYERS

France's tournament 26

Goalkeepers3
Brice Samba
32
Mike Maignan
30
Robin Risser
21
Defenders9
Theo Hernández
28
Lucas Digne
Aston Villa
32
Lucas Hernández
30
Jules Koundé
27
Dayot Upamecano
27
Ibrahima Konaté
Liverpool
27
William Saliba
Arsenal
25
Maxence Lacroix
Crystal Palace
26
Malo Gusto
Chelsea
23
Midfielders8
N'Golo Kanté
35
Adrien Rabiot
31
Aurélien Tchouameni
26
Manu Koné
25
Rayan Cherki
Man City
22
Maghnes Akliouche
24
Desire Doue
21
Warren Zaïre-Emery
20
Other6
Jean-Philippe Mateta
Crystal Palace
28
Ousmane Dembélé
29
Kylian Mbappé
27
Marcus Thuram-Ulien
28
Michael Olise
24
Bradley Barcola
23

Source: football-data.org (FIFA registered squad). Acid dot · player's Premier League club. Updated daily.

FIXTURES

France's group-stage matches

MDDateUTCUKOpponent
1Tue 16 Jun19:0020:00
2Mon 22 Jun21:0022:00
3Fri 26 Jun19:0020:00
THE PL × WC FUNNEL

7 Premier League players representing France

Track these names — their tournament minutes shape your FPL 2026/27 GW1 captaincy shortlist. 2 from Crystal Palace alone.

Crystal Palace
2
Maxence Lacroix
Jean-Philippe Mateta
Arsenal
1
William Saliba
Aston Villa
1
Lucas Digne
Chelsea
1
Malo Gusto
Liverpool
1
Ibrahima Konaté
Man City
1
Rayan Cherki

Source: Premier League official article (29 May 2026). ~ marks players inferred from secondary reporting where the squad wasn't formally announced.

FPL ANGLE

Why France's tournament matters for FPL 2026/27

France's 7 PL players will play 3 group matches before the FPL deadline locks. Watch for minutes, form, and tactical fit at international level — the strongest available signal before pre-season friendlies start.

WORLD CUP FANTASY · FRANCE

Pick France stars in FIFA World Cup Fantasy

Use the Onside captain / differential / value picks to assemble a France-heavy XI, then build it in the official FIFA game. In FIFA Fantasy, open the player list and filter by country = France to surface every eligible name.

Onside is not affiliated with FIFA. We publish picks; you play them in the official game.

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