France v Ivory Coast Prediction: Nantes showdown 2/1 to deliver goals

With just a week to go until the start of the World Cup, France and Ivory Coast fine-tune their preparations with an international friendly meeting in Nantes on Thursday.

Emerse Fae, the Elephants' head coach, will get a decent reception at La Beaujoire, where he enjoyed four years as a player sporting the yellow and green Les Canaris.

However, it is Didier Deschamps' Les Bleus all-stars who the fans are clamouring to see, hoping for a statement performance from the 2018 World Cup winners.

France v Ivory Coast Tips Summary

Best Bet - France Win & Both teams to score @ 2/1
Alternative Bet - Over 2.5 Ivory Coast corners @ 8/11
Bet Builder - Match goals range 3-6, Over 8 corners & Most goals in 1st half @ 13/2

France v Ivory Coast Prediction

Best Bet: France Win & Both teams to score @ 2/1

It's only a non-competitive international and it would be a surprise if any of France's PSG stars appear after Saturday night's UEFA Champions League triumph, but Les Bleus should still have too much for Ivory Coast.

Attacking options of the calibre of Kylian Mbappe, Michael Olise and Marcus Thuram suggest the French will be fine without their PSG comrades.

This is a group which has scored at least two goals in each of their last 11 internationals and can extend that run to 12.

However, the Elephants are more than capable of striking a few blows of their own. If the likes of Iceland and Azerbaijan can notch against Deschamps' men, then be sure Ivory Coast can.

Alternative Bet: Over 2.5 Ivory Coast corners @ 8/11

Ivory Coast certainly weren't stagestruck in March internationals against South Korea and Scotland, both of which were played in England.

They won both games and carried a real threat going forward, winning five corners in each fixture.

In their last seven internationals, over the past six months or so, they are averaging 6.6 corners, so can certainly win over 2.5 corners in Nantes.

France v Ivory Coast Bet Builder Tip

• Match goals range 3-6

• Over 8 corners

• Most goals in 1st half

  Pays 13/2

Each of France's last seven internationals has finished with between three and six goals scored, so make the first leg of the Bet Builder a 3-6 goals range.

In France's most recent friendly against Colombia - a 3-1 win for the European side - there were 14 match corners, while each of Ivory Coast's last seven matches have produced seven or more corners.

Take this game to produce over eight corners.

A rash of substitutions is likely to make the second half a stop-start affair with most of the action - and goals - occurring in the first period.

Learn more about how Bet Builders work in our Bet Builder guide.

Key Match Stats

• France have won eight and drawn the other one of their last nine internationals

• Ivory Coast have won four of their last five including a 4-0 win over South Korea and 1-0 success against Scotland in March

• Les Bleus have scored at least two goals in each of their last 11 internationals

• One of Nicolas Pepe's 12 international goals came in the 2-1 defeat toFrance in 2022, the most recent meeting between these two teams

• France have played two internationals in 2026, wins over Brazil and Colombia, and conceded 14 corners across the two of those games

• In Ivory Coast's last seven internationals they have accumulated 46 corners at an average of 6.6 per game

View details of how to watch France v Ivory Coast on site.

Read more football betting tips and predictions on site.

This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.