Preview: France Women vs Germany Women - prediction, team news, lineups

A place in the Women's European Championship semi-finals will be on the line when France Women meet Germany Women in Saturday's heavyweight tussle in Basel.

Les Bleues finished in first place in Group D with a 100% record, while the DFB-Frauen had to settle for second spot in Group C.

Match preview

France are set to compete in the quarter-finals for the fifth consecutive Women's European Championship after winning all three matches in a difficult group.

Les Bleues kicked off their campaign with a 2-1 victory over reigning champions England, before they dispatched Wales via a 4-1 scoreline on matchday two.

France went on to secure a quarter-final spot and a first-place finish with an impressive 5-2 victory over the Netherlands in Sunday's final group game.

Trailing 2-1 at the break, Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Sakina Karchaoui scored on either side of a Delphine Cascarino brace to set up a last-eight tie with Germany and condemn the Netherlands to a group-stage exit.

Laurent Bonadei's side have now won each of their previous 11 internationals since losing to Spain in December's friendly encounter.

There may be concern that they have lost three of their four quarter-finals at the Women's Euros, although they can at least take confidence from the fact that they recorded their first last-eight victory against the Netherlands in the 2022 tournament.

Germany have maintained their record of progressing from every Women's Euros group stage, although they had to be content with a second-place finish behind Sweden.

The DFB-Frauen started with a 2-0 victory against Poland, before they came from behind to record a 2-1 win in their second group game against Denmark, sealing their place in the quarter-finals with a game to spare.

However, they missed out on top spot after they fell to a heavy 4-1 defeat in Saturday's meeting with Sweden, despite taking a seventh-minute lead through Jule Brand.

Stina Blackstenius and Smilla Holmberg found the net before Carlotta Wamser was shown a straight red card for handling the ball on the goalline.

Fridolina Rolfo and Lina Hurtig went on to add to Sweden's tally, ensuring Germany's seven-game winning run came to an end with their first defeat of 2025.

The record champions will be wary of the tough test that awaits them on Saturday, but they can at least take confidence from the fact that they have won three of their four European Championship quarter-finals, as well as pulling off a 2-1 win over France in the most recent Women's Euros meeting between the two sides in the 2022 semi-finals. 

France Women Women's European Championship form:

France Women form (all competitions):

Germany Women Women's European Championship form:

Germany Women form (all competitions):

Team News

The defensive duo of Griedge Mbock and Maelle Lakrar are both expected to be fit for Saturday's quarter-final, although Bonadei may be reluctant to completely change his centre-back pairing for such an important game.

As a result, France captain Mbock may get the nod over Lakrar to feature in central defence with Alice Sombath, which would force Thiniba Samoura to drop down to the bench. 

Midfielder Grace Geyoro is pushing for a recall after coming off the bench to play over half an hour in Sunday's 5-2 win over the Netherlands.

As for Germany, captain Giulia Gwinn remains sidelined with a knee injury she picked up on matchday one, while her replacement Wamser is set to serve a one-match ban following her dismissal against Sweden, leaving Christian Wuck with a problem to solve on the right side of his defence. 

As a result, Kathrin Hendrich is one option to feature at right-back, although there is also a possibility that Sarai Linder could swap flanks to create the room for Franziska Kett to feature at left-back. 

Bayern Munich's Linda Dallmann is likely to return to the starting lineup after being rested for Saturday's final group game. 

France Women possible starting lineup:

Peyraud-Magnin; De Almeida, Mbock, Bacha; Jean-Francois, Geyoro, Karchaoui; Cascarino, Baltimore, Katoto

Germany Women possible starting lineup:

Berger; Hendrich, Minge, Knaak, Linder; Senss, Nusken; Brand, Dallmann, Buhl; Schuller

We say: France Women 2-1 Germany Women

France will be full of confidence after emerging from a difficult group with a perfect record, and having scored at least two goals in each of their last 10 matches, we think their array of attacking talent will fire them to a memorable victory over a Germany side that may still be reeling from Saturday's heavy defeat to Sweden.

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