Olivier Giroud has claimed that France are capable of "going a long way" at the 2018 World Cup but insists that the nation's players are not getting ahead of themselves.

Les Bleus have enjoyed mixed success over the past 20 years in the tournament, winning outright on home soil in 1998 before crashing out in the first round four years later.

Germany 2006 saw France reach the final, where they lost to Italy, but the following tournament in South Africa culminated in another humiliating failure at the first hurdle.

"After what has happened in the past, we prefer not to speak about how far we want to go, even though our team is capable of going a long way in this World Cup," Chelsea forward Giroud told the Evening Standard.

"We cannot complain about the draw but history shows there is no comfortable group in a World Cup. France should not underestimate anyone.

"We have experienced hard times in previous World Cups and we need to learn from that. My belief is that we have done that and we're determined to move forward and do better."

France get their Group C campaign underway on Saturday against Australia in Kazan.