On a lawn in poor condition, the Blues won without shining against the modest team of Gibraltar (3-0) and retain the lead in group B.
Facing Gibraltar, the question was not whether the France team would win, but to guess the number of goals it would score against the 201st world selection in the FIFA rankings. Despite unchallenged domination, the Blues only won by three goals (3-0), Friday, June 16, against this weak selection composed mainly of semi-professional players unaccustomed to international level.
A header from Olivier Giroud (3rd), a penalty from Kylian Mbappé (45th+3) and an own goal from Aymen Mouelhi (78th) allowed France to secure the essentials and retain the lead in Group B of the Euro 2024 qualifiers. But few lessons can be learned from this meeting, given the level of the evening opposition and the mediocre lawn of the Algarve stadium which has not helped the Habs make the most of their outrageous possession (82%).
A pre-season atmosphere
Facing the low block of Gibraltar, the players of Didier Deschamps above all seemed too heavy, certainly blunted by the long season which ended several weeks ago for some. Too approximate, sometimes not involved enough, like Kylian Mbappé’s first period, eagerly awaited after his press conference on Thursday, the Blues struggled to find the net more often.
This match, often boring, was however to allow the attackers to refine their statistics in selection. The opener after three minutes of play by Olivier Giroud (3rd) – his 54th goal in Blue – on a pass from Kingsley Coman – decisive for the first time since November 2021 – first left him thinking. Then a false rhythm set in which the Blues had a hard time getting rid of, in a strange atmosphere.
Only 3,000 people occupied the stands of the Portuguese den which hosts the Gibraltarian selection, while it can contain 19,000. It must be said that the Gibraltarians did not come in large numbers. Above all, the inhabitants of Faro boycotted the meeting because of places deemed too expensive. The 1,300 French supporters did try to raise the noise level, but with the sun, the heat and the mountains of the Algarve in the background, the meeting inevitably made one think of a pre-season preparation match.
The Blues knock on wood
If they did the job by winning, the Blues were still scared at 1-0, on a daring attempt by midfielder Ayoub El Hmidi, who finished just above the cages guarded by Brice Samba for his first selection (34th). The Tricolores shot a lot (31 shots), found the crossbar three times by Aurélien Tchouameni (29th, 89th) and Axel Disasi (90th), the post by Antoine Griezmann (52nd) and made Dayle Coleing shine, author of several stops (14th , 29th, 36th, 52nd, 82nd).
Kylian Mbappé made it possible to widen the gap thanks to his penalty (45th + 3) and as the French failed to score themselves, Aymen Mouelhi helped them by deceiving his own goalkeeper (78th). Overall, the performance of the vice-world champions against the 201st nation FIFA is unfinished, especially in the second period. Not enough to satisfy Deschamps, whose players may have already had their minds on the holidays rather than this group B of the playoffs which they dominate. We will still have to play a match, against Greece on Monday at the Stade de France, before packing our bags.