Ukraine vs France: World Cup qualifications – teams, start -ups, alignments | Football news
WHOs: Ukraine vs France
What: UEFA eligids for the FIFA World Cup 2026
Or: Tarczynski Arena Wroclaw in Wroclaw, Poland
When: Friday September 5 at 8:45 p.m. (19:45 GMT)
How to follow: We will have all the accumulation on Al Jazeera Sport from 5.45 p.m. (4:45 p.m. GMT) before our live text comments.
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The objective of European football is to qualify for the 2026 World Cup for the next two weeks, but this is only the start of a period of 11 weeks during which six games will each be played to help decide who progresses at the tournament.
The European qualification program involves 54 teams, but 24 of them do not kick for the first time on their way to play on the largest football scene in the United States, Canada and Mexico from next year on June 11.
France, the winner of the 2018 World Cup, launched its qualification campaign for the 2026 edition against Ukraine in the first match of Les Bleus in competition since the loss of an epic final against Argentina in December 2022 at the Qatar World Cup.
Al Jazeera Sport takes a look at the Ukraine match against France and explains why so many teams only join the qualifications now.
Why is Ukraine against France played in Poland?
Ukraine will host this match in Wroclaw in neutral Poland due to home security problems during the Russian military invasion.
The Russian teams were prohibited by UEFA and FIFA of all international competitions in February 2022 when the war started.
Why has France not yet played qualifications in the World Cup?
France, as well as 23 other teams, only join the qualification program for the World Cup now due to the progression of some of the best series of the League of Nations 2025, which led in June.
Portugal was crowned champion while they beat Spain 5-3 to sanctions in the 2025 final in the final of this year.
Spain has overcome France in the semi-finals, while Portugal beat Germany. The rest of the qualifications for the last stages of this tournament also only enter the World Cup qualifications now.
Who else is in Ukraine and in a French group?
Iceland and Azerbaijan complete group D qualifications for the UEFA World Cup.
How do qualifications work for France, Portugal and the other teams that join the qualifications now?
There are already six groups in progress in European qualifications for the 2026 World Cup, each comprising five teams. Four laps have already been played.
The other six groups in qualification are now made up of four teams each.
The best teams from the 12 groups are advancing directly to the final next summer, while the 12 finalists enter the playoffs where they will be joined by the four most placed nations teams who do not qualify at this stage.
To find out more about the format of the playoffs, click here to read our complete ventilation in our overview of the first set of qualifications on Wednesday at this stage.
What are France’s thoughts to join it qualification now?
The French defender Jules Kounde called for an increasingly congested football calendar reassess, warning that the excessive sport calendar affects not only players, but also the broader ecosystem of the game.
Speaking before the matches of France against Ukraine and Iceland, that the French host in Paris on Wednesday, Kounde said that the implacable rhythm of the matches had wreaked havoc.
“It’s not just about players,” he said. “There are families. I also think of all the people who work around football and who are sometimes victims of this incessant pace. ”
Kounde, who plays for Barcelona, did not appear in the World Cup of the FIFA club of this year, which took place from June 14 to July 13 in the United States, but the 26-year-old has always referred to the impact of the tournament in the already filled season.
Rayan Cherki from Manchester City and William Saliba from Arsenal withdrew the double head with an injury while Paris Saint-Germain striker Ousmane Dembele missed training on Tuesday due to a thigh injury.
PSG, which reached the club World Cup final, played 65 games during the 2024-25 season.
“It’s a whole ecosystem,” he said.
“Sometimes in life, when we examine things, we stop appreciating them. When we see too much, we no longer give it the same importance. This is what is happening with football – it is overconsumption.”
The first 32 -team club World Cup added 63 games to the summer calendar, which caused criticism of players and clubs on fatigue and the risk of injury.
Kounde has urged the football guidelines to think about the long -term sustainability of the current model.
“These are things that we have to put in perspective,” he said. “And I think they have to change.”
Tête-à-tête
This is the 13th meeting between countries with France, winning six times while Ukraine has only won once.
What happened in the last match of Ukraine-France?
The games met for the last time during a World Cup qualification in September 2021 in kyiv, the match ending with a 1-1 draw.
Mykola Shaparenko gave the local team the advantage, but Anthony Martial leveled for the French.
The group’s reverse match also ended with a 1-1 draw in Paris.
News from the Ukrainian team
Real Madrid’s goalkeeper Andriy Lunin lacks injury, so Anatoliy Trubin begins with the goal.
Defender Oleksandr Tymchyk is a late withdrawal from the team due to a blow.
News from the French team
The Saliba defender suffered a muscle injury during the defeat of Arsenal in Liverpool on Sunday.
Cherki de Manchester City was also forced to withdraw due to a blow with Hugo Ekitike from Eintract Frankfurt who took his place.
Dembele should shake off his thigh problem.
Ukraine possible the starting range possible
Trubin; Konoplya, Zabarnyi, Matvienko, Mykolenko; Kaliuzhny, Zinchenko; Tsygankov, Shaparenko, Sudakov; Dovbyk
France possible departure line
Maignan; Koonde, Upamecano, Chantoro, T Hernandez; Tchouameni, rabiot; Olise, Debvole, Thuram; EPP
