Euro: Germany, France battle for place in final

France will look to beat Germany in a competitive fixture for the first time in 58 years when they face off in the semi-final of Euro 2016 on Thursday night.

The hopes of a nation rest firmly on France’s shoulders as they look to avenge their 2014 World Cup quarter-final heartbreak at the hands of Germany in Brazil.

And it is France who come into the tie in better form, following their 5-2 thrashing of Iceland in the quarter-final.

Olivier Giroud, Paul Pogba, Dimitri Payet and Antoine Griezmann were all on the scoresheet at the Stade de France, and the home nation will book a return to the national stadium on Sunday night if they can overcome the world champions in the last four.

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Germany themselves have not had an easy run to the final, battling past Italy by the finest of margins in a quarter-final penalty shootout.

Germany will be without striker Mario Gomez after the forward was ruled out of the rest of the tournament with a hamstring injury.

Germany are also sweating on the fitness of midfield pair Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira, while Mats Hummels is suspended after picking up one yellow card too many in the quarter-final.

France, meanwhile, have no suspensions and welcome back both N’Golo Kante and Adil Rami from their bans.

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