France's Year?

Lots of people are predicting France to be in with a shout of winning this year's FIFA World Cup in Russia.

And 2 years after their disappointing defeat in the final of Euro 2016, the competition which they hosted, they look set to progress as group winners given the form of many in the French ranks.

Antoine Griezmann won the UEFA Europa League with Atletico Madrid earlier this month, scoring the opening goal.

He came up against would-be French team mate Dimitri Payet, who was surprisingly left out of the squad although he was top assist maker in Ligue 1 (13) this season.

Dider Deschamps captained France to a WC win in 1998 and a Euro 2000 win and has gone with a young squad full of bright promising stars.

Among those are Kylian Mbappe of PSG and Ousmane Dembele, both of whom have just finished their first seasons at their new clubs.

Mbappe struck an impressive 15 league goals last season for Monaco, and another 6 in the Champions League as he helped Monaco reach the semi-final stage.

This year he managed 13 in the league and 4 in the CL, so a very good return win the last 2 seasons for Mbappe, who could make an impact off the bench this summer.

Dembele suffered a serious knee ligament injury at the start of his Barca career but has shown his worth in recent months, scoring a stunner in the CL last 16 encounter with Chelsea and also bagging a brace against Villarreal.

I predict France to finish top of Group C and face the runner up of Group D, Iceland, Croatia or Nigeria. In that match they could face a tricky tie against the Croats but they should progress and set up a likely Quarter-Final with Brazil.

This is where they could come unstuck, but should they get through it will stand them in good stead and they could be crowned Champions.