A shower of goals, a record and a first place in the bag: The French team made short work of modest Gibraltar (14-0) and secured the biggest success in its history on Saturday to secure seeding status at Euro 2024 to reach .
Already qualified for the European Championships (June 14th – July 14th in Germany), the Blues had one last mission to complete in Group B to avoid any unpleasant surprises in the draw for the competition on December 2nd in Hamburg. But against one of the weakest nations in the world, ranked 198th in the FIFA rankings, this task in Nice was child’s play for the runner-up.
While France had performed the minimum in the first leg in September (3-0), this time, to the great misfortune of their opponents, they played the game to the limit, were suffocated from the start and almost immediately reduced to ten.
This historic demonstration, which erases the 10-0 win against Azerbaijan in Auxerre in 1995, will not add anything to the glory of Didier Deschamps’ team, as the difference in level between the two teams is catastrophic. But the coach is not afraid to have fun and will appreciate the seriousness of his players, who secured their seventh win in as many games in this qualifying phase ahead of Tuesday’s final meeting in Greece.
Almost everyone took part in this dominance. The unfortunate Ethan Santos opened the ball against his camp (3rd) before the second goal for the French team by Marcus Thuram (4th), followed by Warren Zaire-Emery (16th), Kylian Mbappé (30th from the penalty spot, 74th ., 82.). ), Jonathan Clauss (34th), Kingsley Coman (36th, 65th), Youssouf Fofana (37th), Adrien Rabiot (63rd), Ousmane Dembélé (73rd) and Olivier Giroud (88th, 90th + 1st ), more than ever the Blues’ best shooter (56).
Zaire-Emery frustrated
An avalanche of goals and chances that delighted the Allianz Riviera crowd, although it will be difficult to draw conclusions from this game between two countries that do not play in the same category. The debate about the identity of the Blues’ No. 9 has therefore not really progressed yet: we need to see Thuram, who preferred Randal Kolo Muani at kick-off, in other circumstances to get an idea of his level on the international scene and whether he is better suited to fill that position than the current disappointing PSG striker. Especially since the indestructible Giroud showed with his double that, at 37, he is far from finished.
Mbappé took the opportunity to improve his statistics. With his hat-trick, including a superb lob from more than 40 metres, the French captain took his international total to 46.
Coman also roamed down the right and caused headaches for Gibraltar’s weak defense by creating numerous chances.
For Warren Zaire-Emery, the attraction of this final meeting of the year was that the meeting had a rather bitter aftertaste. At 17 years, eight months and ten days, the Paris midfielder, committed from the start, was the youngest player to play in the French team since the First World War. And his fairy tale continued with an initial success after a beautiful attack and an exchange of blows with Coman. But the PSG prodigy was knocked down by Santos, sent off in the action and had to give way to Fofana after 20 minutes due to a right ankle injury.
But nothing that could spoil the party and festival of blues, impressive in power and efficiency on an evening that will go down in history.