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France is making their fifth appearance at the FIFA women’s World Cup as they look to live up to their No. 5 ranking and make a deep run at the title this year. They’ve been drawn into Group F with Brazil, Jamaica, and Panama and will get their group stage campaign started on July 23 against the Jamaicans.
Ahead of the action, let’s take a closer look at what lies ahead for France in the World Cup, with odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
France World Cup 2023 Preview
Odds to win World Cup: +1000
Les Bleues dominated their group in World Cup qualifying, winning all 10 matches and outscoring their opponents a staggering 54-4 in the process. While they’ve never won the World Cup, their best finish came in 2011 in Germany when they ended up in fourth place. Since then, they’ve made it to the quarterfinals twice but have failed to advance beyond that. Head coach Herve Renard has an eye on the final as he looks to take his team on a deep run this time around.
Odds to win/advance from Group F: -200 to win, -2500 to advance
France and Brazil (-1400) are far and away the two favorites to advance out of Group F, with Jamaica (+500) and Panama (+2200) entering the group as the underdogs.
Expectations
The French side will be expected to reach the final, as anything less than that will likely be viewed as a disappointment to the team and the fans alike. With this being their fourth consecutive qualification in the World Cup, they’re holding themselves to a much higher standard as they’ve crashed out in the quarterfinals the last two tournaments in a row.
Key player: Wendie Renard
While France is stacked with talent up and down the roster, Wendie Renard still stands out as one of the most stalwart central defenders in women’s soccer. Captaining the French team at 32 years old, she’s made 145 appearances for France and scored 34 goals, which is an impressive feat for any center back. She’s been with Olympique Lyonnais since 2006, scoring 142 goals across all competitions while winning eight UEFA Women’s Champion League titles among a plethora of other honors.