FRANCE GEAR UP FOR BIG FIGHTS

On Friday, France face Portugal. On Sunday, their footballers hope polls do not go RN party way

- SWAROOP SWAMINATHAN

On Sunday, their footballers hope polls do not go RN party way ON Sunday, France will be on the business end of a snap election. With the National Rally (RN) gaining in the polls, the far-right party has never been closer to power. In the first round of the elections last week, the RN bloc had 33% of the vote, higher than the two other blocs, the New Popular Front (27.99), and the Ensemble (President Emmanuel Macron & Co.; 20.76%).

According to CNN, projections state that the country is heading towards a hung parliament as RN could fall short of the 289 seats needed. "A total of 76 candidates were elected to France's parliament in the first round of the vote, of which 39 represented RN and its allies," CNN had reported on Monday.

On Friday night, in bordering Germany, 26 men can take a big step forward at the European Championship. Against one of the other favourites in the quarterfinals, Portugal, the side led by Kylian Mbappe & Co. knows they can send a strong statement to the rest of the teams. Win and they will be two matches away from doing the double double of a World Cup-Euros within a six-year period since 1998 (they did the first double in 1998-2008 and won the World Cup again in 2018).