France begin training camp ahead of Women’s World Cup

With just under a month to go until the World Cup kicks off in Australia and New Zealand, the France squad have begun their training camp at the national training centre in Clairefontaine.

Les Bleues will see their preparation period split in half – first, a two-week period at Clairefontaine which will culminate in a friendly against Ireland in Dublin. On July 8, Hervé Renard and his team will fly out to Australia, where they will take on the host nation in another warm-up match a week later. Their opening match of the tournament sees them take on Jamaica in Sydney on July 23.

Speaking to the press on the eve of the start of the camp, Renard highlighted the importance of the extended warm-up campaign, and that everything was running smoothly, as had been the case in his first international break back in April, when he first took over from Corinne Diacre.

“It’s going to be my third World Cup. It’s a different atmosphere [in big competitions], it creates adrenaline. The organisation of the tournament seems exceptional, it’s at a very high level, with fantastic stadiums and amazing pitches, and the stands filled out – I hope and I believe that will be the case. It’s a festival of football, the greatest that you can get in our sport. This adrenaline, this passion around a national team, it’s what transforms me. I love this adrenaline that’s slowly rising.”

GFFN | Raphaël Jucobin