After only winning one of their first three games, Les Bleus had a dismal second-place finish in Group D. Now, they square off against the Red Devils in the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Dusseldorf. In the absence of Kylian Mbappe, the 2018 World Cup winners were forced to settle for a goalless draw with the Netherlands after defeating Austria 0–0. Later, they were also limited to a point in a 1–1 draw with Poland.

With the latter outcome, Austria overtook Deschamps's team and won the section, making Les Bleus face a more difficult knockout route—though Belgium has also been known to play tricks in the Euros thus far. Prior to their last-16 match, France would have had five full days to relax and recover. Prior to their last-16 match against Domenico Tedesco's team, where Deschamps is dealing with a number of crucial selection conundrums across the board, France would have had five full days to rest and recover.