Israel vs. France | UEFA Nations League | Pre Match

Clashing on neutral turf at the Bozsik Arena in Budapest, Israel and France resume their UEFA Nations League campaigns on Thursday evening in League A Group 2.

Didier Deschamps's team collected three points from their opening two contests last month, while their 'hosts' sit rock bottom of the section after two defeats in September.

In just 74 minutes against Italy on September 6, France conceded as many goals as they did in the entirety of their Euro 2024 campaign, getting off to the worst possible start in the top tier of the Nations League as they fell to a 3-1 defeat in Paris.

However, Deschamps's crop atoned for that false start in Lyon two days later, where Paris Saint-Germain teammates Randal Kolo Muani and Ousmane Dembele struck either side of the half-time interval in a 2-0 win over Belgium, ending a two-match losing sequence in all tournaments.

The onus will certainly fall more on the likes of Kolo Muani, Dembele and others to step up to the attacking plate in the wake of Antoine Griezmann's shock international retirement, not to mention the fact that Kylian Mbappe missed out on selection for a France squad for the first time in three years this month.

As Deschamps searches for alternative solutions up top, Les Bleus occupy second place in the Group 2 rankings - which would suffice for direct entry to the quarter-finals - and a heavyweight reunion with Belgium lies in wait four days after Thursday's showdown.

The less said about France's performance away from home in the 2022-23 Nations League the better, though, as they failed to win any of their three games against Denmark, Croatia or Austria outside of their homeland, taking just two points from nine on offer.

However, Thursday's opponents Israel are only the hosts of this upcoming fixture in an administrative sense, as with war continuing to rage in the Middle East, the Skyblue and Whites have temporarily taken up residence in Hungary for their 'home' fixtures.

Rising from League C all the way up to the top tier of the Nations League over the past six years, Israel were handed a true baptism of fire in September's League A openers, firstly falling to a 3-1 loss to Belgium behind closed doors in a game where their only consolation was a Timothy Castagne own goal.

Three days later, a little over 2,000 fans rocked up to Budapest to witness Italy defeat Ran Ben Shimon's side 2-1, as strikes from Davide Frattesi and Moise Kean ensured that Mohammad Abu Fani's last-gasp effort would prove meaningless in the grand scheme of things.

Propping up the Group 2 standings in fourth place, Israel are the undisputed favourites for an immediate demotion back down to League B and have just two wins to show from their last nine games, which came against relative minnows in Andorra (2-0) and Belarus (4-0).

France and Israel have coincidentally also locked horns on nine occasions down the years, but the Skyblue and Whites only have one win under their belts against Les Bleus, although they did hold them to a pair of draws when they last clashed in 2006 World Cup qualifying.