Kylian Mbappe assisted two goals and scored the other as France eased to a 3-0 victory over Luxembourg in Wednesday’s international friendly at Stade Saint-Symphorien in Metz.
In a game in which Olivier Giroud came on to become Les Blues’ oldest-ever player aged 37 years and 249 days, new Real Madrid superstar Mbappe stole the show as France kicked off their preparations for Euro 2024 in a serene manner.
The former Paris Saint-Germain forward crossed for Randal Kolo Muani to head home the opener two minutes before half-time after a jinking run down the left, before fizzing in a delivery for Jonathan Clauss to settle himself and flash home a second in the 70th minute.
Mbappe was not finished there as he was teed up by former club-mate Bradley Barcola to slide in the third of the game for France, who did have one moment of concern as Dayot Upamecano departed with a knock.
MBAPPE makes it three!
The goal perfectly set up by Bradley Barcola, just minutes after coming on
3-0 | #FRALUX | #FiersdetreBleus pic.twitter.com/1ItaF5rqXG
— French Team (@FrenchTeam) June 5, 2024
Data Debrief: Mbappe overtakes two fellow greats
Mbappe has now assisted 28 goals for France, which is two more than Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry. Indeed, over the past 50 years, only Antoine Griezmann (30) has provided more.
While the victory was straightforward enough for Didier Deschamps’ men, who face Canada in their final pre-Euro 2024 friendly, their expected goals return (xG) of 1.46 – compared to 0.13 for Luxembourg – was lower than many would have anticipated.
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