France will host Brazil in a friendly next March at the Stade de France, the venue where they beat the South Americans 3-0 in the 1998 World Cup final, the French Football Federation announced on Tuesday.

The March 26 friendly will be France's first match of the year as they build towards hosting the Euro 2016 championships -- a title they won the last time they hosted it in 1984.

Coach Didier Deschamps, who captained France to the Euro 2000 trophy just two years after they beat Brazil for their first World Cup triumph, pitches his side against Denmark three days later.

Those matches presage a busy year for the French, who have games lined up against Albania, Portugal, Serbia, Armenia, Denmark again and then round it off at Wembley against England.