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00:00France 24. Celina Sykes is in Dusseldorf covering the tournament for us. Celina,
00:06France coming into this tournament as one of the big favourites.
00:12That's right Annette. France these days always come into big international competitions as
00:17the favourites. Their record under Didier Deschamps really speaks for itself. They were finalists at
00:22the 2016 Euros. They won the World Cup in 2018. They were finalists again at the World Cup in 2022.
00:29Their only blip being of course the last Euros three years ago when they were knocked out in
00:34the last 16 against Switzerland on penalties. That's something they'll be wanting to avoid
00:39this time round. On paper France has one of the strongest squads, the most complete squads in
00:45the tournament. There are some changes from the last big competition two years ago, that being
00:50the World Cup. France will be without their veteran goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and veteran
00:55defender Raphael Varane. So this team this time around is a bit more of a mix between a youth
01:00and experience. We have some new faces in the squad such as Bradley Barcola and Warren Zerre-Emery,
01:07two stars at PSG. And then there is an experienced spy forming this team with the captain of course
01:13Kylian Mbappé, a midfielder, star midfielder Antoine Griezmann and veteran striker Olivier
01:19Giroud. France did get a lacklustre goalless draw in their last preparation game against
01:25Canada, which has raised some questions. But if there's anything that Didier Deschamps' side
01:30know how to do, it's knows how to kick into tournament mode at big competitions. And their
01:36captain Kylian Mbappé will be hungry for success in what is his first tournament as the captain
01:41of the French side. And sports and politics usually don't mix, but several players have
01:48commented on the political turmoil here in France. That's right Annette, obviously it's full
01:55concentration mode here before kickoff this evening against Austria, but several French
02:00players have come out and said that they can't forget the political situation back home in
02:05France with crucial legislative elections going on during this very tournament. Several players
02:12have come out and commented on that. Marcus Thuram perhaps had the strongest words over the weekend.
02:18He called for voters to go out to the polls and vote to block, to stop the far-right national
02:25party, the National Front. His words were backed by the captain Kylian Mbappé. He didn't go so far
02:32to name the National Front, but he did say that the extremes are on the doorstep at France and
02:39he called young voters in particular to go out and vote in what he called
02:44a crucial moment for the country. And he also said that he hopes that he and his teammates will
02:50still be proud to wear the French shirt after the results on the 7th of July, that being just a week
02:56before the final here at the Euros in Berlin, which will be taking place on France's national
03:02holiday the 14th of July. Finally and very quickly Selena, tell us a little bit more about the
03:08France's opponents, Austria. So this should be an easy win for France, it has to be said,
03:16but the Austrians should not be underestimated. They have several quality players who play
03:21in the Bundesliga and they've been really thriving under their manager Ralph Ragnick,
03:26who's known for his high-pressing, intense, fast football that he's implemented at Leipzig
03:33and Salzburg before taking on the German team. The Austrians though do have a few big injury
03:40blows, the biggest being their talisman defender David Alaba, who is out with injury throughout
03:46the tournament. He will be attending here though as a non-playing captain and it has to be said
03:51that here in Dusseldorf we've seen so far a lot of Austrian fans out in force to cheer on
03:56their Austrian side this evening. Selena Sykes reporting there, thank you so much.