Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Nations League: Mbappe, Giroud score in France win Netherlands close to finals

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France kept their hopes of staying in the top tier of the Nations League alive as goals by Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud secured a 2-0 home victory over Austria on Thursday.

Mbappe opened the scoring with a stunning goal before Giroud, who again showed coach Didier Deschamps he is more than a third-choice forward, sealed the world champions’ win with a header.

France, who travel to Denmark on Sunday, climbed to third in Group A1 with five points from as many games.

Victory came at a price, however, as defender Jules Kounde and goalkeeper Mike Maignan sustained injuries, and may join Karim Benzema, Hugo Lloris, Paul Pogba on the sidelines.

The hosts, who had lost two and drawn two of their four previous games, came out with all guns blazing at the Stade de France.