SOCCER: Ivory Coast friendly perfect World Cup 'preparation', Deschamps says

Thursday’s (June 4) friendly in Nantes between France and Ivory Coast will be the perfect “preparation” ahead of the FIFA World Cup, French coach Didier Deschamps said on Wednesday (June 3).

France will play friendly games against Ivory Coast and Northern Ireland this week before they face Senegal in their opening match of the World Cup on June 16 at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

Deschamps has already confirmed that he will step down after the finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico, ending a tenure that began in 2012.

France start this year's finals with Kylian Mbappe at the center of the project and a squad to make most rivals envious. Players such as Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele and his Champions League-winning Paris St Germain teammates Desire Doue and Bradley Barcola give France the unpredictability that has defined the Deschamps years.

Deschamps said Mbappe was in top form both physically and psychologically, after being asked about his “complicated” season with Real Madrid.

Alongside Senegal, France find themselves in a tricky Group I with Norway and Iraq.

Senegal's 1-0 win over champions France in the opening match of the 2002 World Cup remains one of the tournament's great shocks, while Norway arrive with Erling Haaland and a qualification campaign that restored them as a serious threat.

-Antony Paone, Lewis Macdonald/Reuters