France will qualify for the 2026 World Cup if Les Bleues beat Ukraine in the penultimate match in Group D for both sides at the Parc des Princes on Thursday.
The 2022 finalists dropped points for the first time in qualifying with a 2-2 draw in Iceland on October 13, putting them three points ahead of Ukraine, who beat Azerbaijan 2-1 in Poland on the same day.
A draw would all-but seal France’s place at the finals in the USA, Canada and Mexico because of their five-goal superiority over Ukraine.
101GreatGoals.com has the full team news from France vs Ukraine in 2026 World Cup qualifying.
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France starting lineup vs Ukraine
Paris Saint-Germain forwards Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue, Tottenham striker Randal Kolo Muani, Milan midfielder Adrien Rabiot and Real Madrid counterpart Aurelien Tchouameni are sidelined for France.
Al-Ittihad midfielder N’Golo Kante makes his first international appearance since November 2024 and Manchester City’s Rayan Cherki starts.
France starting XI: Mike Maignan, Jules Kounde, William Saliba, Dayot Upamecano, Lucas Digne, Michael Olise, N’Golo Kante, Rayan Cherki, Manu Kone, Bradley Barcola, Kylian Mbappe
France substitutes: Brice Samba, Malo Gusto, Khephren Thuram, Christopher Nkunku, Hugo Ekitike, Maghnes Akliouche, Ibrahima Konate, Warren Zaire-Emery, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Lucas Hernandez, Theo Hernandez, Lucas Chevalier
Ukraine starting lineup vs France
Roma forward Artem Dovbyk is out for Ukraine with a hip injury, while Dynamo Kyiv midfielder Volodymyr Brazhko misses out because of muscle discomfort.
Ukraine starting XI: Anatoliy Trubin, Oleksandr Karavaiev, Illia Zabarnyi, Oleksandr Svatok, Taras Mykhavko, Bohdan Mykhailichenko, Oleh Ocheretko, Yehor Yarmoliuk, Yehor Nazaryna, Oleksii Hutsuliak, Roman Yaremchuk
Ukraine substitutes: Yevhenii Volynets, Yukhym Konoplia, Valerii Bondar, Ivan Kaliuzhnyi, Vladyslav Vanat, Mykola Shaparenko, Viktor Tsygankov, Vitalii Mykolenko, Heorhii Sudakov, Nazar Voloshyn, Oleksandr Zubkov, Dmytro Riznyk
How to watch France vs Ukraine
Kick-off on Thursday is at 19:45 GMT (14:45 ET / 11:45 PT), with live coverage in the UK on Amazon Prime PPV, which charges £2.49 for the game.
September 5: Ukraine 0-2 France
September 9: France 2-1 Iceland
October 10: France 3-0 Azerbaijan
October 13: Iceland 2-2 France
November 13: France vs Ukraine
November 16: Azerbaijan vs France
France World Cup 2026 qualifying path
The top team from each of the 12 European Qualifier groups proceeds automatically to the finals, which will be expanded to 48 teams.
The 12 runners-up in each group will join four Nations League teams in the play-offs, which will be drawn from pots based on teams’ records during the campaign. The games will comprise single-leg semi-finals and finals.
The draw for the World Cup finals will take place in December 2025. The tournament runs from June 11 until July 19 2026.
