Euro 2024

Euro 2024 friendlies: Mbappe cameo, Frattesi goal + gem Hancko

Our coverage of the pre-Euro 2024 friendlies continues. Before we get to Monday’s matches, a round-up of Sunday’s action.

Premium Members of Fantasy Football Scout may not know this but they can get official Opta data on the majority of the pre-tournament friendlies taking place this week.

In the Match Centre, click on ‘International Friendlies’ in the drop-down menu to view the latest matches.

It’s all part of the offering that subscribers to our site get, so sign up today to gain access to the all-important stats you need for this summer’s Euro Fantasy game.



ITALY 1-0 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

  • Goals: Davide Frattesi
  • Assists: Federico Chiesa

Match centre

The reigning champions scraped past Bosnia and Herzegovina to secure their third successive clean sheet, although they have Gianluigi Donnarumma (€6.0m) to thank after some big saves. One in particular came late on to spare Federico Dimarco‘s (€5.0m) blushes.

The Inter Milan wing-back is currently one of Euro Fantasy’s most chosen defenders, having just delivered five goals and six assists in the latest Serie A campaign.

However, managers shouldn’t be worried that he was only a substitute here, as first-teamers like Giovanni Di Lorenzo (€5.5m) and Alessandro Bastoni (€5.5m) watched from the sidelines, unused.

In attack, the team registered 17 attempts and three big chances but lacked precision. Former West Ham United forward Gianluca Scamacca (€7.0m) was particularly wasteful with his seven shots, as Davide Frattesi (€6.5m) instead stepped up to score. The midfielder is on 0.0% ownership but has four goals from his last six Azzurri starts.

Italy XI (3-4-2-1) – Donnarumma; Darmian, Buongiorno, Calafiori; Bellanova (Dimarco 65), Jorginho (Pellegrini 65), Fagioli (Cristante 65), Cambiaso; Frattesi (Folorunsho 76), Chiesa (Raspadori 76); Scamacca (Retegui 84)


FRANCE 0-0 CANADA

Match centre

Similarly to England’s shock Friday defeat to Iceland, fellow favourites France were held to a goalless draw by a Canada side that just lost 4-0 to fellow Group D outfit the Netherlands.

They had 13 attempts in Olivier Giroud‘s (€8.0m) final Les Bleus appearance on home soil but went closest when substitute Kylian Mbappe (€11.0m) forced a save right at the end.

Seeing the game’s most-selected player come on in the 74th minute will be a relief to many. His slight knee issue should recover in time for the opener against Austria.

Considering the strength of Didier Deschamps’ line-up, it was interesting to see William Saliba (€5.5m) start instead of Ibrahima Konate (€5.5m). After promising run-outs from both he and international returnee N’Golo Kante (€6.0m), perhaps the duo still have time to sneak into France’s preferred XI.

France XI (4-3-3) – Maignan; Kounde, Saliba, Upamecano (Konate 62), T Hernandez (Mendy 46); Kante, Camavinga; Dembele (Mbappe 74), Griezmann (Kolo Muani 87), Thuram (Coman 74); Giroud (Barcola 62)


SLOVAKIA 4-0 WALES

  • Goals: Juraj Kucka, Robert Bozenik, Ethan Ampadu (own goal), Laszlo Benes
  • Assists: Lukas Haraslin x2, David Hancko

Match centre

Francesco Calzona’s Group E side made it two 4-0 wins within a week after taking Wales apart in Trnava.

Former Watford midfielder Juraj Kucka (€5.5m) broke the deadline on the verge of half-time. The 37-year-old was Slovakia’s best player for penalty area touches (27) during qualifying but this strike was from distance, assisted by star man Lukas Haraslin (€6.5m).

The latter netted 16 times for Sparta Prague last season and on three occasions en route to Germany, setting up the third here when his acrobatic shot forced an Ethan Ampadu own goal.

Meanwhile, a potential Fantasy gem continues to hide under the radar. Left-back David Hancko (€4.5m) had more goal involvements (five) than all Slovakian team-mates in the qualification stage, reaching double figures for both shots (11) and chances created (17). The only other active defender to achieve this is Joao Cancelo (€6.0m).

Here, his cross was converted by Robert Bozenik (€6.0m) – a centre-forward whose previous 31 caps brought a mere two goals.

Slovakia XI (4-3-3) – Dubravka; Pekarik, Vavro (De Marco 77), Skriniar, Hancko (Obert 71); Lobotka, Kucka (Bero 82), Duda (Benes 71); Schranz (Suslov 71), Bozenik (Tupta 77), Haraslin


MONTENEGRO 1-3 GEORGIA

  • Goals: Otar Kiteishvili, Georges Mikautadze, Budu Zivzivadze
  • Assists: Giorgi Gvelesiani, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia

Finally, upcoming debutants Georgia played their only pre-tournament friendly on Sunday and beat Montenegro 3-1.

Nine of the supposed first-choice starters took to the field, with Giorgi Gvelesiani (€4.0m) getting the nod at centre-back while Solomon Kverkvelia (€4.0m) undertook individual training.

Furthermore, there’s still some debate about which forward begins alongside Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (€7.0m). This time it was Georges Mikautadze (€5.0m) – on loan at Metz from Ajax – but often it’s Karlsruher’s Budu Zivzivadze (€5.0m). Both got on the scoresheet here.

Georgia XI (3-5-2) – Mamardashvili; Gvelesiani, Kashia, Dvali; Kakabadze, Kochorashvili (Mekvabishvili 80), Kiteishvili (Kvekveskiri 50), Chakvetadze (Altunashvili 67), Shengelia (Tsitaishvili 67); Mikautadze (Zivzivadze 80), Kvaratskhelia (Davitashvili 80)


FPLMarc Newcastle fan that spends far too much time thinking about FPL.

38 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Silva Bilva Tilva Pilva
    • 6 Years
    9 months, 27 days ago

    Would love some opinion here. My team is as follows:

    Mbappé | Lukaku | a) Kane or b) Ronaldo
    Bruno | Eriksen | Wirtz | Çalhanoglu | a) Jorginho or b) Szoboszlai
    Cancelo | Theo | Di Marco | Mittelstadt | Faes
    Verbruggen | a) Costa or b) 4M GK like Moldovan

    a) Kane, Jorginho, Costa
    or
    b) Ronaldo, Szoboszlai, 4m GK like Moldovan
    ?

    0
    1. Men in green tights
      • 6 Years
      9 months, 27 days ago

      Out of them B

      0
  2. Clickzy
    • 9 Years
    9 months, 27 days ago

    Opinions on my draft? I've marked matchdays next to matchday captain choices. Feel like defense may be cheap but overall quite happy:

    Verbruggen - Lunin

    Mittelstadt - TAA - Dimarco - Cancelo - Faes

    Foden (MD3) - Wirtz (MD1) - Szobo (MD2) - Rodri - Bruno (MD5)

    Lukaku - Mbappe (MD4) - Havertz

    0
    1. Men in green tights
      • 6 Years
      9 months, 27 days ago

      Similar to most apart from the England players so in the case not bad.

      0
  3. sirmorbach
    • 8 Years
    9 months, 27 days ago

    How's she looking?

    Pickford / Moldovan
    Theo / Grimaldo / Dimarco / Castagne / Mittelstadt
    Bruno / Gündo / Szoboszlai / Rodri / Jorginho
    Kane / Mbappé / CR7

    0
  4. Boom XhakaLacaSaka
    • 5 Years
    9 months, 27 days ago

    A or B?

    A) Pickford, Cancelo Jorginho, Musiala

    B) Costa, TAA, Rodri, Wirtz

    0
    1. sirmorbach
      • 8 Years
      9 months, 27 days ago

      A is safer, B more exciting

      0
  5. sirmorbach
    • 8 Years
    9 months, 27 days ago

    A. Castagne, Jorginho
    B. Faes, Güler

    0
    1. Boom XhakaLacaSaka
      • 5 Years
      9 months, 27 days ago

      b

      0
  6. Men in green tights
    • 6 Years
    9 months, 27 days ago

    Anyone entered the fanteam euro beat the pundits a bit more of a struggle to get a team that the UEFA euro fantasy

    0
    1. The Mentaculus
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 3 Years
      9 months, 27 days ago

      I made a rough draft; actually found it easier to squeeze in an extra premium mid with fewer funds on the bench (Pentz [4m], Gvardiol, 4m def, 4.5m mid). Haven't really decided on my transfer plan / WC strategy for it yet though. Maybe WC MD3 / R16?

      0
      1. Men in green tights
        • 6 Years
        9 months, 27 days ago

        Have gone with 4mil GK , 4 mil Def X2 and 4.5 mil forward bit risky not going 3 up front but trying to be a bit different.

        0
  7. _Make
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    9 months, 27 days ago

    Afternoon all, hope you are looking forward to some international football!

    For the last few years, I have been keeping my own cheat sheet of team major tournament qualifying data combined with basic player stats. I have (pending the last few FFS article releases) just finished the 2024 Euros version.

    The sheet serves as a quick reference guide to the best teams in terms of goals scored, conceded, and opposition stats: it's a fixture ticker and a basic 'which players contributed the most' chart. It also has a rudimentary scoring/conceding tournament rating based on that team's qualification performance, factoring in the quality of the opposition.

    I find it really useful for orienting myself when it comes to to the 'helicopter view' of which teams a fundamentally the best and have the best opposition. I hope it benefits you too:

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18UETQxQdEau8hx2w9zT_FfDIEcOhjkV1DwaNYzBto3Q/edit?usp=sharing

    The conditional formatting should be self-explanatory but it relates to each team, reading along the rows. Avoid red and go for green!

    The goal threat and defensive frailty ratings are a metric of my own devising which won't directly translate into expected goals scored or conceded, but does aim to understand the collective value of how good a team is, as modified by how good or bad the opposition is.

    Please enjoy and let me know if you spot any obvious errors!

    Information comes from Fantasy Football Scout articles/data in the public domain.

    +3
    1. Men in green tights
      • 6 Years
      9 months, 27 days ago

      Interesting bit was how few goals Albania and Romania have only conceded.
      Good work 🙂

      +1
      1. _Make
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        9 months, 27 days ago

        Yeah it's easy to lump the smaller nations together isn't it? But they were not all created equally.

        Looking at this, and I know we only have friendly matches to go on with them, but I think Germany might struggle in the group stages. Portugal (more than anyone else perhaps) should smash it.

        0
        1. Men in green tights
          • 6 Years
          9 months, 27 days ago

          Yeah agree clear favourites Portugal along with France to top their groups with a lot of goals .

          0
        2. Joey Jo-Jo Junior Shabadoo
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 4 Years
          9 months, 27 days ago

          More than anyone, Portugal show the limitations of restricting data to qualifiers, where they padded their stats against a historically easy group (Luxembourg got 17 pts ffs).

          Here's Portugal's record against opponents who will be at Euros 2024, over the last 2 years.

          Switzerland L
          Czechia W
          Spain L
          Switzerland W
          Slovakia W
          Slovakia W
          Slovenia L
          Croatia L

          Which is decidedly meh, especially against teams we should expect to make knockout rounds.

          +1
          1. panda07
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 12 Years
            9 months, 27 days ago

            Add to that the Roberto Martinez factor!

            +1
          2. _Make
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 8 Years
            9 months, 27 days ago

            This is all true, and I normally put something in the notes to point out big anomalous scores in qualifying, but this time, the distribution of the whipping boys seemed fairly even

            France themselves got Gibraltar of course, and put 14 past them in a single game. All big teams had the opportunity to destroy easy opposition, and you can only beat whoever is put in front of you 🙂

            I would also point out that I factor in opposition qualifying performance too when it comes to the overall difficulty score. This was as much a factor in my boosting of Portugal as their own qualifying performances.

            0
            1. Joey Jo-Jo Junior Shabadoo
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 4 Years
              9 months, 27 days ago

              Should have also mentioned that it must have taken a lot of time and effort and thanks for sharing, as others have.

              +1
              1. _Make
                • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                • 8 Years
                9 months, 27 days ago

                Appreciate it, cheers to you and everyone else

                0
    2. panda07
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      9 months, 27 days ago

      Cheers for sharing.

      +1
    3. Jambot
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      9 months, 27 days ago

      Appreciate it, thanks

      +1
    4. The Mentaculus
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 3 Years
      9 months, 27 days ago

      Cheers for this 🙂

      +1
    5. Make FPL Casual Again
      • 6 Years
      9 months, 27 days ago

      Great stuff

      +1
  8. SM001
    • 9 Years
    9 months, 27 days ago

    Thoughts?

    Plan is to Limitless in MD 2 so team is made to attack MD's 1 and 3. Wildcard in QF's.

    Lukaku / Kane / Mbappe
    Eriksen / Gündoğan (c) / Jorginho
    Faes / Mittelstädt / Dimarco / Dumfries
    Verbruggen

    Costa / Çalhanoğlu / Cancelo / Bruno

    0
    1. Men in green tights
      • 6 Years
      9 months, 27 days ago

      Defence solid similar to most teams posted.
      Midfield like the Eriksen punt not 100% convince on the Gundo but supposed that’s due to funds available.
      Personally not convince over Kane getting a lot of goals could be wrong so you could free up funds that way .
      But overall solid team.

      0
    2. Silva Bilva Tilva Pilva
      • 6 Years
      9 months, 27 days ago

      It’s almost like my team. The only difference is that I have Wirtz and Theo instead of Gundogan and Dumfries.

      0
  9. SuperMears
    • 2 Years
    9 months, 27 days ago

    How important is two playing keepers? I mean it's good to get two chances at a clean sheet but if you throw your confidence behind a solid keeper. Then a 4m might be ok? Thoughts

    Also any thoughts on big on defense... Some solid route to points there atm.
    I'm thinking a back 3 of Trent, frimpong and Dumfries.... Faes and mittelstadt to fill up. Risky as but I think both Netherlands lads could start and if Trent starts ..... Or find 0.5m more for cancello?

    Finally maybe only one premium striker is enough at the start! Probably mbappe...Lukaku.... Let's say I drop Ronaldo or kane..... Who's next best?

    0
    1. Jambot
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      9 months, 27 days ago

      I think it's fine to have a 4.0 2nd keeper (make sure they start though) You can only play 1/2 GK. Other positions you can play all of them if you want to. Going big in defence is deffo fine. I have Cancelo, Dufries, Dimarco, Maehle and Mittelstad and am happy with it. There's a lot of potential double returns in defence including a clean sheet and catching them will be important. Haveertz probably next best after the premium, you're braver than me if you do it. Good luck

      0
    2. Men in green tights
      • 6 Years
      9 months, 27 days ago

      Agree about the gks but it's fairly easy to get 2 playing ones and have a decent team . I've gone 2 premium strikers and 4 big defenders for the group stages obviously all wingbacks with high potential returns in group stage

      +1
      1. SuperMears
        • 2 Years
        9 months, 26 days ago

        Cool thanks,
        Currently on a mbappe, Lukaku, Ronaldo front three

        I'm not seeing the value in midfield but also don't want to go short there. Just loving the value in defence. Could be a great return.
        I'm honestly not sure if frimpong off the bench is deadlier than cancelo whole game or not?!

        Anyway, good luck lads, enjoy the euros

        0
        1. SuperMears
          • 2 Years
          9 months, 26 days ago

          Also like your defence especially maelle.... Food for thought...is akanji the better pick. Italy look bang average.
          Switzerland have lost once since 2022 and his ball recoveries

          0
  10. Apollo Sanchez
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    9 months, 27 days ago

    A. Havertz, Saka, Wirtz, Guehi, Lunin

    B. Lukaku, Trossard, Wirtz, Faes, Moldovan

    C. Havertz, Saka, Wirtz, Kounde, Moldovan

    0
    1. PartyTime
      • 3 Years
      9 months, 27 days ago

      B

      0
      1. Apollo Sanchez
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        9 months, 27 days ago

        Don't think it's too much Belgium, not enough Germany/England/France?

        0
  11. PartyTime
    • 3 Years
    9 months, 27 days ago

    Ronaldo starts! 10M Bargain forward.

    0