Laurent Blanc will look to put the finishing touches on his improving team, and step up competition for places, when France plays the first of its three European Championship warm-up games against Iceland on Sunday.
Although France is unbeaten in 18 matches, Blanc has to contend with some late injuries, and is still unsure what his starting lineup will be against England on June 11 for the opening Group D match.
Blanc expects big changes against Iceland in Valenciennes as he gives his fringe players a chance to stake their Euro 2012 claim.
France then faces Serbia and Estonia, by which time the coach hopes team selection will become clearer.
''There will be a lot of turnover against Iceland. There'll probably be a few changes against Serbia and a bit less against Estonia,'' Blanc said. ''The aim of the last game is to know most of the players who will start against England.''
Furthermore, misfortune and injury have sidelined key players from Euro 2012.
Barcelona left back Eric Abidal is recovering from a liver transplant; right back Bacary Sagna broke his leg playing for Arsenal; central midfielder Abou Diaby picked up yet another muscle injury with the Gunners; and Marseille forward Loic Remy pulled his hamstring.
Blanc has kept Remy in his provisional squad, hoping he can be fit to face England.
''I'll do everything I can to be ready for the Euro,'' Remy said.
Remy was never going to take Karim Benzema's place as France's main striker, but he does offer greater versatility as he can play wide on the right, through the middle, and is also good in the air.
The Iceland match gives Blanc the opportunity to test out at least four positions. Mathieu Debuchy is vying with Anthony Reveillere for the right back slot; Patrice Evra is under pressure from Gael Clichy; Yoann Gourcuff and Marvin Martin are contending for a central midfield role; and Hatem Ben Arfa, Mathieu Valbuena and Jeremy Menez are vying for a right-wing spot if Blanc picks his favored 4-2-3-1 formation.
Alternatively, Blanc could revert to a more traditional 4-4-2 with Olivier Giroud, the French league's top scorer with 21 goals for champion Montpellier, alongside Benzema: a formation which gives France a more compact, physical look, but concedes some width and speed.
Ben Arfa could start on Sunday after a sensational end to the season with Newcastle, where his trickery, balance, speed and lethal finishing lit up the Premier League's highlight reels. It is quite some comeback for Ben Arfa, who broke his leg last year, and has not played for France since scoring against Norway in Blanc's first game in charge - back in August 2010.
Ben Arfa's career, much like the form of the France team, has come full circle.
''I'm much more of a team player now. I'm more mature now than I was when I was 20,'' he said. ''But I still have room for improvement.''
France has gradually gained in confidence in Blanc's two years in charge, and February's 2-1 win away to Germany was encouraging. France dominated for long periods, with some passages of play hinting that some of the old flair is coming back.
Blanc is cautiously optimistic that, after years of mediocrity, France can be a contender again at Euro 2012.
''Our status hasn't changed, but the way people are looking us certainly has,'' Blanc said. ''The win in Germany showed that, over one game, we could raise our level. But doing so over a whole competition is a different matter.''
The players, too, seem to have finally understood that they can no longer hide behind the glory days of the Zinedine Zidane era, when France won the 1998 World Cup, reached the 2006 final, and won Euro 2000.
They have everything to prove after France went out of Euro 2008 and the last World Cup without winning a game, an embarrassment for a football nation of France's stature.
''We all have some revenge to take,'' France midfielder Samir Nasri said.
