FRANCE face Bosnia tonight as the World Cup 2022 qualifying continues.
The World Cup holders beat Kazakhstan 2-0 last weekend, while Bosnia drew 0-0 with Costa Rica in a friendly.
When is Bosnia vs France?
- Bosnia vs France takes place on Wednesday, March 31.
- The match kicks off at 7.45pm.
- The Stadion Grbavica in Sarajevo plays host.
What TV channel and live stream is Bosnia vs France on?
- Bosnia vs France will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Premier League.
- Sky begin their coverage at 7.40pm.
- To stream the game live, head to the Sky Go app.
- Non-Sky Sports subscribers can watch all the action with a Now TV Day Pass from £9.99.
What is the team news?
Bosnia XI: Sehic; Hadzikadunic, Ahmedhodzic, Sanicanin; Todorovic, Hadziahmetovic, Pjanic, Cimirot, Kolasinac; Krunic, Dzeko
What have they said?
Frane coach Didier Deschamps on Paul Pogba: "He is not on top of his game, that's for sure.
"When he came off the bench against Ukraine, we were not having our best moment. But obviously, those 30 minutes were good for him.
"Like every player that comes back from injury, he needs time. He was in this situation in November, he came with not a lot of minutes and played one hour against Finland which was not that good, but it didn't stop him from having a great game against Portugal after that.
"He is capable of playing from the start but also coming in during the game. But he needs to play minutes in order to get fit again."
- Kostas Lianos
FRANCE FORMATION
France manager Didier Deschamps has opted for a 4-4-2 formation with seven changes to the team that won at Kazakhstan on Sunday.
Captain Hugo Lloris starts between the sticks with Benjamin Pavard, on for Leo Dubois, at right-back and Lucas Hernandez, replacing Lucas Digne, at left-back.
Raphael Varane and Presnel Kimpembe team up at centre-back in the place of Kurt Zouma and Clement Lenglet.
Paul Pogba links up with Adrien Rabiot, on for Tanguy NDombele, while Kingsley Coman takes Ousmane Dembele's place at the right flank and Thomas Lemar covers the left wing.
Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe, on for Anthony Martial, lead the attack
- Kostas Lianos
FRANCE XI
1 Lloris; 2 Pavard, 4 Varane, 3 Kimpembe, 21 Hernandez; 15 Coman, 6 Pogba, 14 Rabiot, 8 Lemar; 7 Griezmann, 10 Mbappe
- Kostas Lianos
THE TEAM SHEETS ARE IN!!!
- Kostas Lianos
BOSNIA STATS
Bosnia & Herzegovina failed to qualify for Euro 2020 after finishing fourth in Group J during the qualifying stage below Italy, Finland and Greece before getting bested by Northern Ireland in the play-off semi-finals.
Bosnia also struggled in the Nations League as they finished last in their League A group below Italy, Netherlands and Poland following a miserable record that saw them losing four and winning none of their six games.
In fact, Ivaylo Petev's men haven't won a single match since November 18, 2019 when they beat Liechtenstein 3-0 in Vaduz.
Since then, the hosts have amassed five defeats in all of their 10 matches across all competitions
GETTY IMAGES - Kostas Lianos
HEAD-TO-HEAD
France and Bosnia & Herzegovina's first ever encounter took place in a friendly match back in 2004 that saw them drawing 1-1 in Rennes.
Since then, the two nations have faced off a total of four times that saw the reigning world champions winning twice while Bosnia are still searching for their first victory over the Tricolores.
Their most recent meeting took place in a Euro 2012 qualifier 10 years ago at the Stade de France that ended 1-1 when Samir Nasri's spot-kick cancelled out Edin Dzeko's opener.
France should be feeling confident as both of their victories took place in Bosnia thanks to a 2-1 win in 2006 and another 2-0 triumph in 2010
- Kostas Lianos
GOOD EVENING FROM SARAJEVO
Welcome to our live coverage of the World Cup qualifying match between Bosnia & Herzegovina and France at the Grbavica Stadium.
The two nations are set to lock horns in their second round of qualifiers on Group D where they have also drawn Finland, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
France are getting ready for the delayed Euro 2020 competition where they are set for the "group of death" against Germany, Portugal and Hungary but will have to put all of that aside tonight when they take on Bosnia.
Tricolores manager Didier Deschamps will be without Manchester United star Anthony Martial, who was forced off the pitch during Sunday's win at Kazakhstan with a knee injury.
United star midfielder Paul Pogba may also not be completely match fit as he recently overcame a hamstring problem and played for an hour in the weekend.
Chelsea talisman N'Golo Kante is also out with a muscle injury and thus Juventus ace Adrien Rabiot is likely to team up with Tottenham's Tanguy Ndombele in midfield.
Bosnia caretaker boss Slaven Musa, who fills in for manager Ivaylo Petev after he tested positive for coronavirus, will be missing Ermedin Demirovic, Josip Corluka and Edin Visca as they have all been forced to withdraw from the squad over the international break.
But Amer Gojak, Rade Krunic, Gojko Cimirot and Eldar Civic should all return to Musa's starting line-up
Source: Read Full Article
