Jean-Baptiste Sarrazin, with AFP 20:23 p.m., March 26, 2023, modified at 20:27 p.m., March 26, 2023

A few days after its demonstration against the Netherlands, Kylian Mbappe's France team travels to Ireland for Euro 2024 qualifying on Monday evening. A match that promises to be difficult, the Blues moving in hostile territory.

Rejuvenated and enthusiastic, Kylian Mbappe's France team passes a first test outside, Monday at 20:45 in Ireland, a trip made tricky by the local fervor but which can turn into a boulevard for Euro 2024 if successful. After the "Oranje", place to the "Boys in green", these "men in green" and their Aviva stadium in Dublin (less than 52,000 seats) announced full. It is a team "that does not correspond to the image we have abroad and which has evolved for two years," warned Philippe Auclair in Europe 1 Sport (every evening from 20 hours to 23 hours on Europe 1), before adding: "The Blues must be wary".

"The commitment will be there, with the public pushing well," said coach Didier Deschamps. "It will be a much more difficult match than we can think," Kylian Mbappe said in a conference on the eve of the match. In the wake of their new captain, the French have brilliantly launched the qualifying campaign for the next European Championship, with a 4-0 victory against the decimated and disappointing Netherlands, Friday for their reunion with the Stade de France.

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Irish "generosity"

The trip to Ireland reserves for the Blues a completely different atmosphere in the boiling den of Lansdowne Road, fatal to their rugby counterparts a month earlier in the Six Nations Tournament (32-19). This time, there is no question of a Grand Slam or a shock at the top of the world rankings, since the Republic of Ireland is only 48th in the FIFA tables with a rather anonymous generation, absent from the last Euro and the last five World Cups.

"We tend, because of their reputation, to think that it will be a rough team, but that's not the case. It's a team that plays football," warned Mbappe. "This Ireland team has always had this generosity, this enthusiasm" but it has a certain "technical quality too", with a game "a little less direct", more on the ground, adds Deschamps. "They are an ambitious team in their intentions. She puts the game and try to play, "analyzed Philipe Auclair in Europe 1 Sport.

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Victorious in Latvia

Exempt from meeting on the first day, Stephen Kenny's men were indeed able to fine-tune their preparation for this duel through a friendly match organized on Wednesday against Latvia, with a reshuffled team. They won 3-2 thanks to 18-year-old Evan Ferguson and Chiedozie Ogbene, who scored twice minutes into the game.

Against Les Bleus, "it's a big test, but a test to enjoy. That will be the main message for the boys," said new assistant John O'Shea, formerly of Manchester United. "With a full stadium, it's a chance for us to show our young talents and our collective union," said the former defender, who started during the famous World Cup play-off in 2009, marked by Thierry Henry's hand.

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Giroud in the rotation?

Since this confrontation, the France team has dominated the Irish twice, at Euro 2016 (2-1, double Antoine Griezmann) then in preparation for the World Cup-2018 (2-0), with a goal from Olivier Giroud. At 36, the number 9 is hoping for a start in Dublin after starting France - Netherlands on the substitutes' bench. But Randal Kolo Muani impressed at Saint-Denis, redesigning the hierarchy of strikers.

Another place is perhaps to be taken on the right of the attack, with Marcus Thuram or Moussa Diaby in postulants to push Kingsley Coman on the bench. The position of left winger is reserved for several years by an unstoppable Kylian Mbappe. The armband of the new captain does not seem to slow down an irremediable rise: after his double Friday, the Parisian of 24 years is on a crazy series of 20 goals in 17 matches in the blue jersey.

If Deschamps reserves the possibility of making changes depending on the state of form, the places will be expensive in defense, the hinge Konaté-Upamecano already seems well installed in front of the goalkeeper Mike Maignan, as in the middle, where the trio Griezmann-Tchouaméni-Rabiot has convinced.