With a 2-1 victory over Denmark, Kylian Mbappe scored twice as France became the first team to secure a spot in the last-16 round of the Qatar World Cup.
It took France until just after the hour mark to score, when Mbappe completed an exhilarating break. Andreas Christensen's close-range header past Hugo Lloris brought Denmark even seven minutes later. Substitute Martin Braithwaite later hit the post. When he headed in Antoine Griezmann's right-wing cross in the 86th minute, Mbappe proved to be decisive.
Denmark was hoping to become the first side to defeat Les Bleus three times in a calendar year after defeating Les Bleus in Nations League games in June and September of this year. The Danish team needed to win badly after their opening match against Tunisia ended in a tie.
Early on, Ousmane Dembele crossed the ball from the right, and Olivier Giroud missed with his header. When Mbappe attempted to run free after receiving a pass from Griezmann, Christensen tackled him, and Mbappe received a yellow card as a result. It was quite possibly a red.
Adrien Rabiot's header was excellently saved by Kasper Schmeichel, and Mbappe missed a huge opportunity. France had already attempted 10 times before Denmark finally registered a shot in the 36th minute, and Andreas Cornelius' breakaway attempt was well wide.
Theo Hernandez and Mbappe collaborated down the left side, with Hernandez cutting the ball back for the striker to finish past Schmeichel with the help of a deflection, giving France their first goal in the 61st minute.
France may have felt they had the game won, but Denmark had other plans, and in the 68th minute, Christensen stooped to head in a corner to tie the score.
The winner was provided by a beautiful ball from Griezmann that was met by Mbappe just in front of Schmeichel, who timed his run perfectly and could hardly miss. As France pressed, Rabiot's scissor-kick volley just missed.
WHY DOES THAT MATTER? THE DAY IS SAVED BY MBAPPE
Giroud would have been France's all-time leading scorer with a goal after tying Thierry Henry on 51 goals with his double against Australia in the previous match. As they battled to find a precise finish, it was not Giroud's day and almost not France either.
Mbappe was always the most probable man to make the difference because of the attacking resources of the caliber provided by Mbappe, Giroud, Griezmann, and Dembele. Mbappe has already scored 31 goals for his nation, matching Zinedine Zidane's total, and he is vying for the all-time record.
MISSES MAY HAVE BEEN EXPENSIVE.
The first 45 minutes of a World Cup game saw France take 13 shots on goal, which is the most they had ever attempted without scoring. In spite of some outstanding build-up, just three of those shots were on goal, giving the 13 shots combined an expected goals (xG) tally of 0.99.
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