The coach of the French national team, Didier Deschamps, appeared in a press conference to talk about tomorrow’s confrontation against Belgium, in the 16-final of the European Nations Cup “Euro 2024”.

The coach said :"I will not comment on what we did or did not do [in training] this morning. I am doing my best to put the team in the best possible position to win and to be strong in defence."

He added: “We have to prepare for the penalty shootout. We have information about our opponents and we also know who our players are. But if you look at the last penalty shootout we had, there were seven changes between the players who were supposed to take those kicks and those who took them.” They can, not always the same people, but my goal is to make sure we don't resort to penalty kicks.”

And about the knockout stage: “We are in a new stage of competition - A competition within a competition. There are no second chances now. The teams that have qualified are better than the ones that have gone home. It's all about getting it. You have to be superior in front of goal if you want to win, you have to score, and that's not what we and I do. Scorers."

He continued: "The group is ready. We've had more time to recover and prepare. A new competition begins within the broader competition. This is still the European Championship. It's the knockout now, so it's a different situation and a different context."

He stressed: "The mentality is always excellent. We had to celebrate the qualification, and not underestimate the fact that we were able to reach the round of 16. After a little time to relax with the family, we have now refocused our attention on tomorrow's match."

He concluded: "We know Belgium well, and the players know each other well, even... If we haven't faced them for a long time, the France-Belgium match is a relatively frequent match. They are a team full of great players who play for the best clubs, so it is clear that Belgium has strong attacking potential.”