Euro 2016 hosts France will kick off their campaign as they welcome Romania to the Stade de France on Friday, June 10th.

Viewed as one of the favorites to win the upcoming UEFA Euro 2016 tournament, France will be keen on starting off proceedings on the right foot. As this summer’s hosts, Les Bleus fortunately did not have to go through the same grueling qualifiers as the other 23 teams, but Didier Deschamps’s men are still under pressure to make that home pitch advantage count as they take on familiar foe Romania. Meanwhile, France’s upcoming opponents are by far the clear underdogs, but that does not mean they should be taken lightly, either.

France

16 years ago, France were crowned champions of Europe. 16 years prior to that, Les Bleus clinched their first Euro title, and now, 32 years later, Deschamps’s troops will be hoping to replicate that same success. The last time France managed to win any kind of silverware of note was in 2003, when they successfully defended their Confederations Cup title as that edition’s hosts.

In fact, France have won three out of the last five tournaments they have hosted: the 1998 World Cup, Euro 1984, and the aforementioned Confederations Cup. The only exceptions to this rule are Euro 1960, in which they finished in fourth and the 1938 World Cup, where they made it to the quarter-finals.

France will be coming into this game off a rich vein of form, with wins in all but one of their last ten matches, and so far are unbeaten in 2016, including a recent 3-0 victory over Scotland in their last pre-Euro warm-up match. Although the team will not have star striker Karim Benzema available after Deschamps opted not to call up the Real Madrid man, the hosts will have no shortage of attacking options available for this match and throughout the tournament.

Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba is one of the players expected to have an impact for France at the upcoming Euro tournament

Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann, Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud, Manchester United’s Anthony Martial, and West Ham’s Dimitri Payet are among the choices Deschamps could field for France’s opener later today. In midfield, Leicester City’s N’Golo Kante could replace the injured Lassana Diarra alongside Paul Pogba and PSG’s Blaise Matuidi, whilst young defender Raphael Varane’s injury will mean a reshuffling of the personnel at the back.

With debutants Albania – who managed to beat France last year – coming up next, followed by a tricky clash with Switzerland, Deschamps naturally will be determined to pick up all three points from this match. However, if history is any indicator, Romania will definitely not make things easy for Les Bleus.

Romania

Anghel Iordanescu’s men are not expected to come out on top later today, but Romania will still be looking to frustrate the UEFA Euro 2016 hosts. The Tricolori conceded the fewest number of goals during qualifiers, with just two in their ten matches and come into this tournament having made it through their campaign sans suffering a defeat. Interestingly, the last time that Romania managed this was back in preparation for Euro 2000, and they made an impressive run to the quarter-finals before being stopped by eventual runners-up Italy.

Romania may not have some of the “star” players like France, but will be relying on their strength in numbers to try to get out of their group

Although they don’t have a Paul Pogba or Antoine Griezmann within their ranks, Romania do have a few players plying their trades in Europe’s “Big 5” leagues. Serie A followers will likely be familiar with shot-stopper Ciprian Tătărușanu, who features for Fiorentina, and current skipper Vlad Chiricheș, who plays his club football for Napoli.

Iordanescu is reportedly with some injuries, with forwards Denis Alibec and Florin Andone having suffered knocks – however, neither player has been ruled out of contention for the team’s group stage campaign.

France vs Romania – Did you know?

• This will be the third time France and Romania square off for their opening Euro match
• The first was on June 10, 1996 – which ended as a 1-0 win for France, and the second was on June 9, 2008, which ended in a 0-0 draw
• Romania have not beaten France since April 1972 (2-0 in a friendly)
• Romania have lost five out of their last eight road games against Les Bleus and have only scored two goals during that run
• France have only lost once at home versus Romania. That was on March 22, 1967, when they were defeated 2-1 at the Parc des Princes
• Is a draw on the cards? Well, four out of the past five matches between France and Romania have finished as stalemates