Real Madrid's Mbappe on target as France stroll past Luxembourg

In the tournament that starts in Germany next Friday France are in Group D with Netherlands, Austria and Poland, all far more challenging rivals on paper than Luxembourg, who however stood firm until late in the first half. With a third goal in four games for France Randal Kolo Muani scored a soft header on 43 mins after a sweet centre from Mbappe, while Marseille defender Jonathan Clauss fired a scorcher into the top corner on 70 minutes to make it 2-0.

The biggest cheer of the evening came however when substitute Bradley Barcola waltzed around the visiting defence to set Mbappe up on 85mins with the Real Madrid bound forward slamming home with conviction. "That did him good," said Deschamps. "Kylian is a great leader and we need him at his best," he said of Mbappe, who looked off form in his previous two France games.

The 33-year-old Al-Ittihad (Saudi Arabia) based holding midfielder N'Golo Kante got his first run out since June 2022 and left the pitch exhausted midway through the second half after putting in a solid performance supporting both defence and attack. "He was as good as ever," Deschamps said. "He did himself proud."

Mike Maignan was hardly tested in the France goal with his defence also enjoying a relatively quiet evening. France were given hearty support at the match held at Metz, who were relegated from the French top flight in a play off with Saint Etienne, who climbed back into the top flight on Sunday.

Didier Deschamps' men take on Canada Sunday in Bordeaux, before their Euro 2024 opener June 17th in Dusseldorf against Austria.

 

June 5, 2024