France vs Northern Ireland prediction 08.06.2026 | International Friendly

France come into their final World Cup warm-up fixture after a shock 2:1 defeat against the Ivory Coast last Thursday evening. Amad Diallo’s second-half goals secured a memorable road victory for the African World Cup qualifiers.

Despite fielding a strong side led by captain Kylian Mbappe, the French suffered their first defeat since a 5:4 reversal against Spain in the Nations League exactly one year ago.

Before their surprise defeat last week, France had won seven of their previous eight matches, with six of those victories secured by a margin of two goals or more.

Head coach Deschamps is likely to make changes from the side that began Thursday’s defeat against Senegal. 

Lucas Digne, Maxence Lacroix, N'Golo Kanté, Maghnes Akliouche, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Malo Gusto are among those in contention to earn starting berths at Decathlon Arena Stade Pierre-Mauroy.

Northern Ireland arrive in France after a morale-boosting friendly win against Guinea last week. Tom Atcheson had an eventful evening with the 19-year-old scoring a first career goal before being dismissed for a professional foul in the second period.

Under Michael O’Neill, the Northern Irish have improved in the past year, securing five wins while losing three of their last ten internationals.

While the Green and White Army failed to qualify for the upcoming World Cup, they did perform well in the qualification campaign, finishing only three points behind Slovakia in the race for playoff spots.

Still, an inexperienced side could struggle to contain French firepower this week. Northern Ireland conceded four goals in two previous encounters against the French, albeit in the previous century.

Head coach O’Neill will be forced into at least one change to this first XI. Tom Atcheson misses out after his red card against Guinea.