PARIS - Striker Kylian Mbappe played saviour as France closed in on qualification for next year's World Cup with a lackluster 3-0 home win over Azerbaijan in their Group D qualifier on Friday, before coming off late with a painful ankle knock.
The 26-year-old opened the scoring on the stroke of halftime and set up Adrien Rabiot for the second, with substitute Florian Thauvin adding a third to put Les Bleus on nine points from three games and give Didier Deschamps' side a chance to secure qualification on Monday when they travel to Iceland.
France were missing several key players, with Paris St Germain forwards Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue and Bradley Barcola all sidelined through injury, but former PSG duo Mbappe and Rabiot got the job done despite an appalling first half.
Azerbaijan, who next play second-placed Ukraine (four points), remain bottom of the table with one point behind Iceland who have three after three games.
"We got the result we wanted but not the performance — especially in the first half," Deschamps told a press conference. "Our ball circulation was too slow, it was all a bit too flat. I can’t stop players from thinking the goal will come eventually, but we didn’t do enough to unsettle them."
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Les Bleus stretched their unbeaten run in World Cup and European Championship qualifiers to 26 games, although they did not do it in style.
Mbappe had their first chance within seconds followed by a powerful angled strike from Malo Gusto at a quiet Parc des Princes. Hugo Ekitike also tested goalkeeper Shakhrudin Magomedaliyev, but France lacked a cutting edge in a largely underwhelming first half.
On the stroke of halftime, however, Mbappe slalomed through the visitors’ defense and found the back of the net with a neat low shot to put France ahead.
Ekitike came close early in the second half, his angled right-footed effort bouncing off the far post.
Rabiot finally put the result beyond doubt in the 69th minute, heading home from Mbappe’s cross from the left.
Six years after his last cap, Thauvin — a world champion with Les Bleus in 2018 — replaced Mbappe in the 83rd minute after the captain took a knock to his ankle and scored a subtle volley with his first touch a minute later.
"Kylian is in great shape — he’s the leader, the captain, and he was already in this kind of form back in September," said Deschamps. "He had a sore ankle, and as often happens, he took another knock in the same spot. He preferred to come off because the pain had become quite intense."
