Category Archives: National

Turkey 2-0 France | Les Bleus upset in Konya

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Turkey registered their first ever competitive win over France as the reigning world champions were upset in Konya over the weekend. Prior to this clash, the French had lost only one of their last 15 games in European qualifying (against Belarus in 2010), but turned in a lacklustre performance as the Turks went top of Group A. The loss came just 24 hours after Les Bleus’ women counterparts had begun their 2019 WWC campaign with a confident 4-0 win over South Korea. Continue reading →

Kylian Mbappe comes in for flak for “Neymar like acting”

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Young French star Kylian Mbappe has come under fire for “acting like Neymar” during Les Bleus’ quarterfinal against Argentina. Mbappe was involved in an incident with Cristian Rodriguez that saw the former go to the ground theatrically, and referee Pitana chose to give both players yellow cards.

Some have put this down to Neymar’s influence on Mbappe, with the two currently at the same club- Paris Saint-Germain. Continue reading →

France to meet Belgium in WC semifinal

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France will not be having a South American opponent for the third time in succession at the knockout stages of the World Cup after Belgium upset Tite’s Brazil to set up a semifinal with Les Bleus.

Roberto Martinez’s side stunned the South American giants, with an own goal from Fernandinho and a stunner from Kevin de Bruyne doing the business for them in Kazan.

France had beaten Uruguay in the last eight and seen off Argentina in the Round of 16. They also had Peru in their group.

Brazil’s elimination also means that this will be the first World Cup without one of them, Germany or Argentina in the semifinals since the tournament began.

France 2-0 Uruguay | Bleus advance to semifinals

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France claimed the scalp of yet another South American nation as they beat Uruguay to advance to the last four of the World Cup. Les Bleus, who had beaten Argentina in the Round of 16, saw off Oscar Tabarez’s men in Nizhny Novgorod thanks to goals from Raphael Varane and Antoine Griezmann.

Uruguay, who had eliminated Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in the Round of 16, were sluggish and lacked a cutting edge upfront, perhaps missing the services of Edinson Cavani, who was forced to watch this game from the sidelines.

France took the lead through Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane, and doubled their advantage on the hour mark, when long serving Uruguayan keeper Fernando Muslera made a Karius-like howler and let Antoine Griezmann’s shot in.

France will now play the winner of the Belgium-Brazil quarterfinal and should the Samba Boys progress, as expected, will meet a third consecutive South American nation in the knockout stages of the tournament.

France 2 (Varane, Griezmann) Uruguay 0

Game played in front of 43.319 spectators at the Nizhny Novgorod stadium.

Man of the Match: Antoine Griezmann (France)

France 4-3 Argentina | Mbappe shines as Les Bleus send Messi and co. home

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The first ever 4-3 game at a World Cup knockout stage clash (yes, the first ever game that finished with that scoreline!) saw France beat Argentina in a thriller and saw Lionel Messi and co. board the plane home after a thriller in Kazan.

Kylian Mbappe was the star of the evening with two goals, although Benjamin Pavard and Angel di Maria also scored fantastic individual efforts.

There was a brief period in the second half when Argentina lead 2-1, but France’s class shone though and while Sergio Aguero set up a nervy finale, few would argue that Les Bleus were deserved winners over the Albiceleste.

France 4 (Mbappe x2, Griezmann pen, Pavard) beat Argentina 3 (Di Maria, Mercado, Aguero)