Kylian Mbappe on Monday scored one and set up two more as France routed Iceland 4-0 at the Stade de France to move to the top of Group H in Euro 2020 qualifying.
The result gives France six points from their first two matches and puts them ahead of Turkey, who also won 4-0 against Moldova, on goal-difference.
“It was our objective to take six points, but the manner was good as well,” France manager Didier Deschamps said.
Photo: Reuters
Deschamps praised his team’s “offensive efficiency” against a “dense” Iceland defense.
“When the opponent plays very defensively it can be very difficult to find a way through, so that was a good sign,” said Deschamps, although he acknowledged that fatigue played a role at the end of the match.
He added that he was pleased that all three strikers — Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud — scored.
“They are the champions of the world and you saw that today,” Iceland manager Erik Hamren said. “Five shots on goal and they scored four. That’s top class.”
From the start Mbappe’s movement mesmerized Iceland, though his contribution to the opening goal after 11 minutes was straightforward.
The visitors cleared a corner only as far as Benjamin Pavard. The fullback switched the ball to Mbappe, alone on the left, and the young star had time to aim a cross that Samuel Umititi met at the near post with a header that glanced off the inside of the far post and into the goal.
For the next 45 minutes, France, who have never lost to Iceland, gave the impression that they had slipped down a couple of gears and were content to take the long-range shooting opportunities the packed Iceland defense was allowing.
Then after 68 minutes, Iceland were again punished for failing to put distance on a clearance.
France moved the ball to Pavard, who swerved a cross in from the right that lured goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson into a desperate dive for a ball he could not reach.
Giroud kneed the ball into the empty net for his 35th France goal.
That moved him into third on the all-time list of France scorers, breaking a tie with David Trezeguet. The Chelsea striker trails only Michel Platini, on 41, and Thierry Henry, the all-time leader on 51.
“He’s not playing much for his club, but he remains effective and brings something different to the other two strikers,” Deschamps said.
Gaps then began to appear in the Iceland defense.
“As long as its 1-0 we have a chance, but after 2-0 we had problems,” Hamren said.
Mbappe added a third after 78 minutes. Griezmann slipped a pass between two defenders to the advancing Mbappe, who shrugged off a timid challenge and slid the ball past Halldorsson.
Six minutes later, Mbappe returned the assist with a neat back-heel that sent Griezmann scampering through the frozen Iceland defense to poke the ball into the corner of the goal.
“We’ve started well with two nice team performances” Paul Pogba told French broadcster M6.
“We knew what we were up against. They are a team that doesn’t let in a lot of goals, but today we did our job,” he said.
Pogba warned that the world champions are improving.
“I think that we’ve made progress. We gained experience with the World Cup,” he said.
The defeat continued a miserable run for Iceland, whose victory in Andorra on Friday last week was their only win in a competitive match since November 2017.
Also on Monday, it was:
‧ Kosovo 1, Bulgaria 1
‧ Luxembourg 1, Ukraine 2
‧ Portugal 1, Serbia 1
‧ Andorra 0, Albania 3
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