France has validated its ticket for the round of 16 of the World Cup once morest Denmark. Thanks to a great Kylian Mbappé and author of a double, the Blues got out of the trap set by the Danes (2-1). With this precious victory, France is the first nation guaranteed to advance to the next round. The Danes will absolutely have to beat Australia on Wednesday to also reach the round of 16.
From the first minutes of play, the Blues put their foot on the ball, creating several dangerous situations on set pieces. The first was Varane’s header narrowly cleared by Maehle. A few moments later, Rabiot forced Schmeichel to pull out all the stops. Overwhelmed, the Danes were forced to make mistakes. Christensen on Mbappé (20th) and Cornelius on Giroud (23rd) notably saw yellow.
At half an hour, a new acceleration of Mbappé in the area put the Danish defense at bay. His cross at the far post found Koundé whose shot was blocked by Hojbjerg before Schmeichel might seize it.
The first Danish chance came in the 35th minute. On a quick conversion, Cornelius found himself in one once morest one once morest Lloris but his sending missed the target.
If the Danes came back on the lawn, following half-time, with better intentions, it was France, and a Mbappé launched deep, who created the first good chance of the second act. But his sending was well countered by Schmeichel in a corner kick.
But in the 60th, the Blues finally managed to break the Danish lock. After a magnificent collective action and a one-two between Mbappé and Hernandez, the PSG star deceived Schmeichel, who might not do anything this time (1-0)!
The Danish reaction was not long in coming! In the 67th, Lindström recovered the ball on the right side before sending a good cross. If the French defense struggled a little to get free, the Danes finally failed to alert Lloris.
But it was only a postponement for the Danes! On a corner kick, Christensen was left too free at the far post and sent the ball into the back of the net on an opportunistic header (1-1, 68th). The Danes gained confidence in this second half. In the 72nd, Lindström was in a shooting position but it was too central and allowed Lloris to box the ball.
In the last quarter of an hour, the opportunities multiplied on both sides. Tchouaméni was very close to scoring a magnificent goal with a header but the ball ricocheted off Maehle’s back in extremis. A few moments later, Rabiot attempted an acrobatic recovery which passed just above the cage defended by Schmeichel. But the Danes were not left out. On the counter, Braithwaite passed very close to the goal but his deflection at the near post went just wide.
But it is finally on the French side that it turned. On a millimeter cross from Coman, Mbappé was in the right place at the far post. The star offered himself a double to allow the French to take control.
