PARIS — The French soccer team’s win in the World Cup semifinals this past week handed France’s president an unexpected opportunity to meet the Russian president face to face at a moment of tension between the Continent and the United States.

When the Blues — the French team’s name — won on Tuesday, Vladimir V. Putin, the Russian president, called his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, to congratulate him and invite him to the final match on Sunday. That happens to be just a day before a high-profile meeting in Finland between Mr. Putin and President Trump.

Mr. Macron appears to have recognized the chance to use the trip not only to support his country’s team, but also to press the European Union’s position with the Russian president on several topics important to Russia as well. It comes after European allies and other NATO members met this past week in Brussels with Mr. Trump, whose provocations during the meeting — rather than the substantive policies embraced — tended to dominate news media coverage.

The presidential palace said Saturday that Mr. Macron would discuss Ukraine policy, Iran and Syria with Mr. Putin, all subjects that the two have discussed before and on which the French and European Union position differs considerably from that of the United States.