Kylian Mbappé’s 50th international goal for France set them on their way to a 2-0 victory over hosts Germany in the UEFA Nations League third-place play-off as Les Bleus claimed the bronze medal.
This was the first competitive match between these teams since a 1-0 win for France in Munich in the group stage at EURO 2020.
Germany have now lost successive Nations League matches for the first time since back-to-back defeats against the Netherlands and France in October 2018.
It became a hat-trick of near misses for the hosts in the 38th minute when Florian Wirtz wrong-footed Maignan with a placed shot which cannoned back off the post and away from danger.
And on the stroke of half-time Julian Nagelsmann’s side were made to pay for their wasted opportunities as Mbappé cut inside on the left before bending a powerful effort beyond Marc-André ter Stegen.
The goal saw Mbappe bring up his half-century for his country and leave him just one goal behind France legend Thierry Henry, who is second on Les Bleus’ all-time scorers list.
On the hour mark Marcus Thuram came inches away from doubling the visitors’ lead, becoming the second player to hit the woodwork with a curling attempt from just inside the box as the game began to get more and more stretched.
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It was France who looked more likely to get the game’s second goal, and Mbappé was only denied a double by an excellent sprawling Ter Stegen save from his acrobatic volley on 79 minutes.
A few minutes later, though, Les Bleus did get their second, with Mbappé pouncing on a defensive mix-up to race clear before unselfishly squaring for substitute Michael Olise to score into an empty net and end the match as a contest.
Both sides will now switch their attentions towards securing a place at the 2026 World Cup, with Germany next in qualification action on 4 September against Slovakia and France facing Ukraine a day later.
uefa.com
