FRANCE struck early through Michael Olise and sealed the points with a late Kylian Mbappe breakaway to beat Ukraine 2-0 on Friday and open their World Cup qualifying campaign in style.
Mbappe’s 82nd-minute strike, set up by his Real Madrid teammate Aurelien Tchouameni at the end of a rapid counter attack, lifted the forward to 51 international goals, drawing him level with Thierry Henry in second place on France’s all-time scoring list behind Olivier Giroud (57).
“We mastered the first half and could have scored one more, then we struggled briefly but we have so much attacking quality. We had much to lose, so it’s good to start this campaign with a win,“ said coach Didier Deschamps.
Mbappe echoed his manager’s comments.
“We could have scored more, I, myself, missed a few, so there is room for improvement. But it’s a good, solid start,“ Mbappe said.
Second-half substitute Ousmane Dembele, who had already missed training this week with a thigh issue, aggravated the same injury after replacing Desire Doue at the interval.
Doue had sustained a knock on his right calf before halftime and could not continue. Dembele’s evening also ended early as he came off in the 81st minute, making way for Hugo Ekitike to earn his first cap.
Les Bleus had dominated the opening half in a slick 4-2-3-1 formation, their pace and movement repeatedly pulling Ukraine apart.
Olise gave them the lead after 10 minutes, sliding in a Bradley Barcola pass, and only goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin’s sharp reflexes prevented further damage as he denied Olise a second and later blocked Dembele after a delicate Tchouameni chip over the defence.
Ukraine, who had threatened early with dangerous crosses into the box, came alive after the hour. Ibrahima Konate cleared off the line from Ivan Kalyuzhnyi before Illia Zabarnyi struck Mike Maignan’s post, briefly putting France’s backline under real pressure.
But once Mbappe sprinted clear to deliver the killer blow with a low drive, Deschamps’s side were able to see out the closing minutes with comfort.
The result gives the 2018 world champions an early edge in Group D against the toughest opposition. The group also includes Iceland and Azerbaijan.
France host Iceland, who destroyed Azerbaijan 5-0, in Paris on Tuesday, while Ukraine travel to Baku.