With a brace from Kylian Mbappé, France beat Denmark 2-1 this Saturday in Doha and qualified for the round of 16 of the World Cup in Qatar, where they aspire to defend the title won four years ago in Russia.
After a goalless first half, France took the lead with a goal from Kylian Mbappé (61), Andreas Christensen equalized with a header shortly after (68) and the Paris SG star once again finished off a cross from Antoine Griezmann (86) to place to France leader of group D with 6 points and classified.
After France qualified for the next round, Australia (with 3 after beating Tunisia 1-0), Denmark and the North African team (with 1) will play for second place on the third day.
At the age of 23, Mbappé has reached 31 goals in 61 international matches, equaling those scored by Zinedine Zidane and surpassing two historical goalscorers in French football such as Justo Fontaine and Jean-Pierre Papin in the standings.
It is his third goal in Qatar and the seventh that Mbappé has scored in the World Cup, rising to second place on the list of top scorers for the ‘Bleus’ in this tournament, which Fontaine leads with 13 in 1958.
After a few minutes of alternating dominance, Didier Deschamps’s team took the initiative and began to dangerously approach Kasper Schmeichel’s area, with a first chance for Olivier Giroud, after Adrien Rabiot left the ball dead with a header, but the striker from AC Milan was not quick and the defense took the lead (10).
Giroud had it again minutes later, after a great play on the right by Ousmane Dembele, but the ‘9’ headed wide (16).
Gallic domain, but without effectiveness
The minutes progressed and the ‘Bleu’ dominance became greater, which at the speed of Mbappé and Dembele added another of his favorite weapons, the passing game, with headers from Raphaël Varane, who returned to ownership in the defensive axis after overcome his injury (13), and Rabiot (21).
When the French dominated the most, with chances for Jules Kounde (30) and Antoine Griezmann (34), Denmark gave their first scare, in a counterattack that Andreas Cornelius finished off with a deflected shot, although he was playing it invalidated for offside (36 ), and soon after with a cross from full-back Rasmus Kristensen who found no finisher (38).
But the clearest chance in the first half was for Mbappé, who finished off a delayed cross from Dembele (40) from the penalty spot.
The Danes increased their intensity by one point at the beginning of the second half and the ball went from one area to the other, although neither team had clear chances to score.
Mbappé tested it again with a shot after another run, but Schmeichel, the best of the Danes, deflected to a corner (56) and Griezmann sent a high shot after getting rid of his defender’s mark with a chest check (59 ).
Decide ‘Kyky’
And at game time, France decided that they had already forgiven too much. A counter on the left side, ended with the wall of Théo Hernandez and Mbappé, the delayed pass from the side and the ’10’ finished off with his right foot into the net (61).
After the conceded goal, the Danes went for an equalizer and they did it quickly, in a corner taken from Eriksen’s right and in the heart of the area Christensen headed into the net in front of Hugo Lloris (68).
The goals released both teams, who sought the second. Lloris avoided the Nordic goal by saving a powerful shot from the edge of Jesper Lindstrom (73) and Martin Braithwhite missed the French goal in a shot at the near post (81), while France threatened with Aurelien Tchouameni (78) and , above all, with an acrobatic shot by Rabiot that went slightly high (80).
In that give and take, the ‘Bleus’ emerged victorious, who sentenced with Mbappé’s second goal, getting ahead of the defense at the far post and finishing off a Griezmann cross with his thigh, to seal the qualification for the round of 16.
