France

France have really struggled in recent years and it seems they are still searching for someone like Zidane who can win them most games almost single handedly. Unfortunately they just don't have a player of his quality and with players like Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira also gone we have to accept France aren't as good as they once were.

France should perform better than with Raymond Domenech as manager who had completely lost the dressing room by the time he left his job but Laurent Blanc still has his work cut out if he is to transform a side of decent players into realistic contenders for the final.

Best Bets On France At Euro 2012

Check out the best bets on France in the most popular Euro 2012 betting markets:

France To Finish Runners Up In Group D

France and England are the two teams very much expected to qualify from Group D but confidence in France is tempered somewhat by their no shows in recent major tournament groups. France finished last in their two recent attempts at group stages and whilst they should improve under new coach Laurent Blanc an improvement up to first place seems unlikely.

France To Gain Six Points In Group D

The advantage of betting in the points market over other markets is the results may not actually be what you expect but you can still get the points total right. In Euro 2008 three of the four group runners up picked up six points so that could be the most likely outcome with two wins expected from games against England, Sweden and Ukraine.

Back France To Be Eliminated In The Quarter Finals

Should France finish runners up in Group D they would most likely face Spain in the Quarter Finals and for most sides at Euro 2012 beating Spain is going to be an impossible task. Spain haven't been knocked out of a major tournament since 2006 and France look unlikely to be able to do that this summer.

France Qualifying Results

France have sometimes struggled to qualify for major tournaments in recent years and they didn't exactly qualify with ease here, France eventually took top spot by finishing one point above Bosnia Herzegovina, who then went on to be easily defeated by Portugal in their playoff. France were solid defensively in qualifying but didn't score many goals and they will need to improve on their attacking if they are to do well at Euro 2012.

France Euro 2012 Squad

This is the predicted 23 man France Euro 2012 squad, when the final squad is announced the squad will be updated:

Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris, Steve Mandanda, Cedric, Carrasso.

Defenders: Eric Abidal, Younes Kaboul, Mamadou Sakho, Anthony Reveillere, Patrice Evra, Bacary Sagna, Adil Rami, Philippe Mexes.

Midfielders: Florent Malouda, Yann M'Villa, Samir Nasri, Yoann Gourcuff, Franck Ribery, Alou Diarra, Yahan Cabaye, Marvin Martin.

Forwards: Karim Benzema, Loic Remy, Kevin Gameiro, Guillaume Hoarau.

France Player Stats From Euro 2012 Qualifying

France Player's Goal Stats

Here are the most important goal stats from France's Euro 2012 qualifying group. Use these to pick the best goalscorer bets on France's games at Euro 2012.

*All stats reflect bookies rules for own goals and 90 mins play in their respective markets. Four other France players scored a single goal in qualification.

France had no outstanding attacker during Euro 2012 qualifcation, largely down to the fact that they didn't score many goals either, three players scored three goals and just one player managed to score two goals across the ten game qualifying period. Yoann Gourcuff had the best goals per game ratio, he scored in every match he was involved in and each time scored the last goal.

Karim Benzema had the best first goalscorer record, all of his goals were first goals in the match whilst Florent Malouda also had a decent record of opening the scoring and ending the scoring.

France Players' Disciplinary Stats

Check France's yellow and red card stats below to help highlight the best bets in the cards markets for France's Euro 2012 matches.

Plenty of France players received bookings during qualification, ten different players went into the referee's notebook and thirteen bookings were handed out to France in total. the worst offending players were Adil Rami who played nine games and picked up three bookings and also Alou Diarra who played in six different games and managed to get two yellow cards. These players probably remain the most likely players to pick up bookings for France at Euro 2012.

France Team Stats From Euro 2012 Qualifying

France's team stats can be found below, these stats can be applied to a multitude of match markets for Euro 2012.

France managed to win their group despite averaging just 1.5 goals per match. This was possible because they had a very strong defensive record in their matches. France didn't have many under 1.5 games but the majority of their games had under 2.5 goals and that is going to be a good bet in most of their Euro 2012 matches unless playing against very high scoring/conceding opposition.

France only scored in both halves in three matches and also only scored and conceded in three games which contributed to their low scoring results. France were drawing as many games at half time as they were winning so don't be afraid to bet on Draw/France in the half time/full time betting. They had a pretty good record of winning games to nil and that bet should be considered against teams who don't score too many goals.

France Recent European Championships Performances

In the last four attempts France have never repeated the same result at the European Championship, they have gone out at the group stage (bottom of their group four years ago), they have gone out in the quarter finals, they have gone out in the semi finals and they have gone all the way and won it. When they did win it in 2000 it was very much with their golden generation of players and they don't look half as strong now as they did then.