CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE LIVE MATCH
France's Euro 2024 qualification campaign in Group B resumes on Monday with a journey to Dublin to face the Republic of Ireland. The new period under Kylian Mbappe's leadership has gotten off to a spectacular start.
On Friday night, Les Bleus scored four unanswered goals against the Netherlands, and Stephen Kenny's players barely edged past Latvia, 5-4, in a friendly.
After Callum O'Dowda and Evan Ferguson put Ireland up 2-0 in the first 20 minutes of Wednesday's friendly, Roberts Uldrikis scored one of the best long-range goals ever seen at the Aviva Stadium, sparking an instant Latvia fightback.
While Caoimhin Kelleher was undone by Uldrikis's stunning strike from distance and Latvia equalized through a deflected Arturs Zjuzins effort just before halftime, Liverpool's No. 2 had his blushes spared when Chiedozie Ogbene scored the game's fifth and final goal within a minute of coming off the bench.
Ireland, who have previously qualified for the continental finals in 1988, 2012, and 2016 but were eliminated on penalties by Slovakia in the round of 16, begin their quest to qualify for the finals in Euro 2020 now that exhibition games are a thing of the past.
Given their recent winless exploits in Euro qualifying, it's no surprise that the Boys in Green failed to topple either Portugal or Serbia in their World Cup qualifying section. As a result, they face an unforgiving task in trying to topple one of France, Greece, or the Netherlands to finish in the top two spots in Group B.
Indeed, Kenny's side hasn't won any of their last five European Championship qualification matches since a 2-0 win over Gibraltar in June 2019. They still have a 14-game unbeaten home run to protect, but against Mbappe-inspired France, their chances of a 15th are low.
Didier Deschamps took a chance by giving Mbappe, then 24 years old, the captain's insignia after Raphael Varane and Hugo Lloris retired, but the two attackers quickly put aside their differences and destroyed the Dutch.
Within two minutes of the game's start, Mbappe and Griezmann set up the latter to score the game's first goal, and the Paris Saint-Germain superstar capped off his first game as national team captain with a dazzling brace. Dayot Upamecano also made the net vibrate in the 4-0 rout.
Upamecano was grateful to his fortunate stars, or more particularly Mike Maignan, because he had just conceded a penalty for handling in the final minute, but France's new number one had blocked Memphis Depay's chance and the rebound to keep the Bleus scoreless.
France, having taken over as group leaders after just one game, will be determined to keep their position for the next eight months; they arrive in Dublin on the strength of three consecutive shutout victories on the road in Euro qualification.
France have not lost to the Republic of Ireland in any of their last seven meetings, winning four of their last five, and avenging a 3-2 loss to the Boys in Green in a 1982 World Cup qualifier. However, Thierry Henry would be wise to stay out of the spotlight, as memories of his handball in 2009 are still fresh in the hosts' minds.
