Laurent Blanc will expect France to produce a more convincing performance against Serbia on Thursday after struggling to beat Iceland.
France had to come from 2-0 down at half-time to secure a face-saving victory in the friendly against minnows Iceland at the Stade du Hainaut, Valenciennes, on Sunday.
Goals from Mathieu Debuchy, Franck Ribery and Adil Rami extended France s unbeaten run to 16 matches, with their last defeat a 2-1 friendly loss to Norway in August 2011.
Prior to their underwhelming performance against Iceland, France had every reason for optimism going into Euro 2012.
Friendly victories over England, Brazil and Germany in the last 12 months demonstrated the improvement made under Blanc since a disastrous group-stage exit from the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
Drawn in Group D of the European Championships, the 2000 winners begin their campaign against England in Donetsk on June 11, before matches against co-hosts Ukraine and then Sweden.
France played England in the group stages of the Euros as recently as the 2004 competition in Portugal, when injury-time goals from Zinedine Zidane saw Jacques Santini s side come from behind to win 2-1 at the Estadio da Luz, Lisbon.
Just as in that contest eight years ago, the 2012 showdown between old rivals England and France will be the curtain raiser for the group, and could go some way to deciding which teams progress to the knockout stages.
France s next opponents, Serbia, failed to reach the Euros after finishing third in qualifying Group C, behind winners Italy and runners-up Estonia.
The Serbian campaign made headlines for the wrong reasons when their match away to Italy in Genoa was abandoned due to crowd trouble caused by the travelling supporters.
Serbia have endured a sorry run since their unsuccessful qualifying campaign, losing friendlies to Mexico and Honduras, while also drawing with Cyprus.
They acquitted themselves well in a 2-0 friendly loss to world and European champions Spain on Saturday.
But controversy has since struck again, with newly appointed manager Sinisa Mihajlovic axing star Adem Ljajic from the squad for refusing to sing the national anthem prior to the Spain defeat.
Mihajlovic, no stranger to disciplinary problems during his chequered playing career, coached Ljajic at Serie A club side Fiorentina prior to his dismissal in November 2011.
Earlier this month, Mihajlovic s successor, Delio Rossi, was also dismissed after punching Ljajic, who had sarcastically applauded his coach s decision to substitute him.
Serbia will be hoping for a positive, incident-free performance when the teams meet at the Stade Auguste Delaune, Reims, on Thursday.
But it is hosts France who are undeniably well-placed to continue their impressive winning run.
