France were up against Ukraine in the first Group D match UEFA Qualifiers for the upcoming FIFA World Cup in the US. The 2018 World Cup Champions recently finished third in the UEFA Nations League beating Germany in the third place play-off, after losing to Spain in the semi-finals.
Didier Deschamps started with a 4-2-3-1 with Kylian Mbappe leading the attack and captaining the side. Aurelien Tchoumeni started in the double pivot tasked with providing screening presence and initiating attacks from
deep. For Ukraine, Roma’s Artem Dovbyk led the line in a 4-5-1 formation with Real Madrid’s Andriy Lunin missing out due to injury.
Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise opened the scoring inside the opening 10 minutes of the game, with a brilliantly placed finish. France dominated proceedings, especially in the first half, registering 16 shots and creating five big chances. French Captain and Real Madrid star, Kylian Mbappe, doubled the lead in the 82nd minute, after Tchouameni found him on a quick transition with a brilliant first time ball.
Kylian Mbappe scored France’s second goal of the game and in the process equalled Thierry Henry as their second highest men’s goalscorer ever. The 26-year-old now has 51 goals for Les Bleus, including a memorable hat-trick in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Final, with only Olivier Giroud scoring more for the men’s side.
The Real Madrid’s talisman looked sharp and dropped off the last line to receive and link play. Playing slightly detached role allowed him to run at defenders, recording four progressive carries and nine take-ons in the process, the most by any player. A lot of his dribbles came right around the edge of the box in zone 14 as well.
Mbappe consistently took up advanced positions in France’s dominant performance. This also allowed him to receive a lot of progressive passes, adding verticality to France’s play. He received 10 progressive passes against Ukraine, again the most by any player.
Mbappe continued his rich vein of form, creating an impact with the national side as well.
Tchouameni played the entire 90 minutes and looked really solid playing as the defensive screening presence against Ukraine. He was able to showcase his incredible passing range and vision, picking up the assist for Mbappe’s goal. The weight on his balls and the timing of it was brilliant throughout. The 25-year-old completed 64 of his 67 attempted passes, including eight of his nine long balls. On top of that, he recorded five progressive passes and three keypasses.
While his on-ball quality was on display, his defensive coverage and ball recovery was spectacular as well. He won five of his six attempted tackles and recorded four ball recoveries as well. With France showing dominance on the ball early on, Tchouameni was able to take slightly advanced positions in the middle. However, in the second half the game became transitional and Les Bleus suffered a little.
France host Iceland in their next game of the World Cup Qualifiers in Group D on Tuesday at the Parc des Princes at 8:45pm (18:45 GMT).
