France were up against Azerbaijan in their third game of the UEFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers. Les Blues had won both their opening games in group D, scoring twice against Ukraine and Iceland.
Didier Deschamps
started in a 4-4-2 with Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe leading the line alongside Hugo Ekitike. Following the red card for Aurelien Tchouameni in France’s last game, the midfield was composed of Adrian Rabiot and Khephren Thuram. Eduardo Camavinga started the game on the bench. Azerbaijan started with a 5-4-1 formation with an idea to
France dominated the proceedings as expected but were unable to find the back of the net until late in the first half. They had 77% possession in the game and outshot their opponent 33-1, with 23 of those shots coming from inside the box. They couldn’t break the deadlock until a moment of individual brilliance from the French captai in the stoppage time during the first half.
The second half was more of the same with France scoring twice. Adrian Rabiot capitalized on a cross from Kylian Mbappe in the 69th minute with Florian Thauvin marked his return to the French national team with a goal within a minute after coming on in the 83rd minute to replace Mbappe. Thauvin’s overhead finish was the cherry on the top of this professional and dominant French outing.
Kylian Mbappe was fantastic once again continuining his strong run of form once again. The Madrid forward scored the opening goal and assisted the second one was was France’s most dangerous outlet. Beyond his 10 shots in the game, he created four chances and recorded 11 take-ons with five successful. He received the most progressive passes of any player in the game (7) and played six progressive passes himself.
The 26 year-old has now scored in each of his last 10 games in all competitions, taking his tally to 17 goals in all competitions this season. He looks sharp and proactively involved in possession, running at defences and breaking lines with his ball carries, just like he did for the opening goal. His shot generation has been fantastic as he is able to manifest shooting opportunities in tight spaces for himself.
His positioning in the left halfspace and the ability to accelerate once he receives the ball is fantastic and he has looked a yard faster than everyone else around him. Dropping off the last line and to receive and turn to run at the backline has also helped his production a lot.
A great performance was however overshadowed by the same ankle issue aggravating towards the second half, forcing a substitution for the talisman. Los Blancos will be hoping to have the Frenchman back for club football immediately.
Camavinga was brought on for the final 20 minutes of the game and he didn’t put a put wrong. He was safe with his passing, completing 27 of his 28 attempted passes, won all of his aerial duels and two of his four ground duels as well. It was another solid outing for the young midfielder who is making his way back after injury.
France will be up against Iceland in their next game in the qualifiers on 13th October as they aim to seal the top spot in Group D and book their ticket to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the United States.
