Brazil and France will head to this summer’s World Cup finals among the favourites to lift the trophy
Brazil and France will get the opportunity to flex their World Cup muscles in front of an American audience tonight as the two international heavyweights clash in Massachusetts.
That’s despite the Selecao not enjoyed the most fruitful of qualifying campaign, finishing in an underwhelming fifth place in the Conmebal table - 10 points adrift of leaders and World Cup holders Argentina.
Didier Deschamps will therefore be keen for France to make a statement against Carlo Ancelotti’s side in the friendly, who have come out on the losing side against Brazil in their previous two friendlies in 2013 and 2015.
Follow all the action from the Gillette Stadium in our live blog below:
Kylian Mbappe insists his knee injury is ‘truly behind me’ ahead of World Cup
Kylian Mbappe has declared his troublesome left knee is now fully recovered, offering a significant boost to France's World Cup preparations .
The Real Madrid striker, who has been eased back into action as a substitute in his club's recent fixtures, has now joined his national teammates ahead of two friendly matches in the United States this week.
Speaking to French media on Monday evening at a promotional event, Mbappe reflected on the challenging period of his injury.
International break: World Cup qualifying semi-finals
This match between two heavyweights might be a headliner of the international break, but there are several very important World Cup qualifying games taking place this evening too.
Games in European qualifying tonight include:
Wales vs Bosnia & Herzegovina - 7.45pm (follow our live blog here)
Italy vs Northern Ireland - 7.45pm
Czechia vs Republic of Ireland - 7.45pm (follow our live blog here)
Zinedine Zidane ‘agrees to replace Didier Deschamps as France manager’
Some potentially big news for the FFF from earlier this week...
French football legend Zinedine Zidane has reportedly agreed to become the next head coach of the national team , taking the reins after this summer's FIFA World Cup.
According to ESPN , the 53-year-old is understood to have reached a verbal agreement with the Federation Francaise de Football (FFF) to succeed Didier Deschamps, who has held the managerial position since 2012.
Zidane, a revered figure in French football, previously managed La Liga giants Real Madrid across two spells between 2016-18 and 2019-21.
His eventual appointment to lead the national side has long been anticipated.
Brazil vs France: A history in pictures
Brazil vs France is due to kick off at 8pm GMT (4pm local) on Thursday 26 March at Gillette Stadium in Boston.
In the United Kingdom, the match will be broadcast on ITV4 and streamed on ITVX.
Brazil XI: Ederson; Wesley, Bremer, Marquinhos, D.
Santos; Raphinha, Casemiro, A.
Santos, Vinicius Jr; Cunha, Pedro
France XI: Maignan; Gusto, Konate, Upamecano, T.
Hernandez; Tchouameni, Rabiot; Olise, Cherki, Mbappe; Dembele
Similarly, France have lost their key Arsenal defender in William Saliba due to injury, with Jules Kounde also out with a hamstring strain.
Captain Kylian Mbappe looks set to be involved.
Arsenal centre back Gabriel Magalhaes withdrew from the squad in a blow for Carlo Ancelotti, while Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson is also unavailable.
Neymar was not called-up while Igor Thiago will be hoping to obtain his first cap after impressing at Brentford.
Brazil take on France in a high-profile friendly in Boston on Thursday - three months out from the 2026 World Cup.
Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil only finished fifth in their World Cup qualifying group, with Ancelotti joining last summer and replacing Dorival Junior.
They will face Scotland, Morocco and Haiti in their group this summer.
2018 World Cup winners France, and 2022 finalists, breezed to top spot in their qualifying group with Ukraine, Iceland and Azerbaijan.
Didier Deschamps’ side will face Norway, Senegal and a play-off side this summer.
The last time these two met was 2015 in a friendly, with Brazil winning 3-1.
The 1998 final is, of course, their most memorable meeting, with France winning 3-0.
Hello and welcome to The Independent’ s live blog coverage of tonight’s friendly between Brazil and France in Boston.
Two footballing giants face off in a World Cup host city just three months before the tournament kicks off in June, and while both of these sides will harbour hopes of winning the biggest prize in the sport come July, the first task at hand is for their respective managers to decide their squads.
The likes of Kylian Mbappe, Michael Olise and Vinicius Jr could be involved tonight, as a raft of players look to impress Didier Deschamps and Carlo Ancelotti in the last bath of fixtures before the squads are decided.
And we’ll have all the latest build-up, team news and updates from the game right here.
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