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Julian Lorenz, reporter
Six matches, six wins, he scored 13 goals, conceding one goal. France became one of the first teams to qualify for Euro 2024, alongside Belgium and Portugal, on Friday evening with two matches remaining, and Kylian Mbappé is showing he is qualified to be captain.
It was another compact and efficient performance from Didier Deschamps’ France as they won 2-1 over the Netherlands in Amsterdam. The Dutch were missing Frenkie de Jong and Cody Jacobo, but France had to do without some key stars as well – including Dayot Upamecano, William Saliba and Ousmane Dembélé – and were rarely pressured by the home side, until the final 10 minutes. When Quilindschy Hartman pulled the goal back.
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Once again, Mbappe was the main difference maker. It’s been a funny few weeks for the captain. Mbappé joined his country’s national team after four consecutive goalless matches with Paris Saint-Germain, his longest drought since joining the club in August 2017. He was also heavily criticized for his poor performance in the 4-1 defeat to his hosts. Newcastle United in the Champions League. On Wednesday, he learned of the death of a close friend in Bondy, where he grew up, in the northern suburbs of Paris, and left France’s headquarters in Clairefontaine to visit the grieving family. He paid tribute to his friend by pointing his fingers and arms towards the sky after each goal at the Johan Cruyff Arena.
Now Mbappé is back to doing what he does best: scoring goals. He scored against the Dutch. The first came from a fine cross from Jonathan Klaus from the right flank, which he fired home from close range after just seven minutes, completing an impressive team move with 23 passes and 72 seconds of uninterrupted possession. The second goal came through a wonderful half-volley shot after exchanging the ball with Adrien Rabiot.
Mbappé made his debut with his country’s national team in March 2017 at the age of 18 and scored his first goal in September of the same year against the Netherlands. He loves to play and score against orange: He scored in the reverse fixture earlier this year and another in 2018 as well.
The brace took him to 42 international goals, surpassing Michel Platini in France’s history books to fourth place behind Antoine Griezmann (44), Thierry Henry (51) and Olivier Giroud (54), and he provided 25 assists in his 72 international appearances.
With just over two months to go until his 25th birthday, Mbappé’s statistics are superior to those of any other France international. Giroud was 31 years old and had scored 31 goals at the time of his 72nd cap. Karim Benzema was 26 years and eight months old, and had only scored 23 goals and provided 16 assists. Henry was 28 years old and had scored 29 goals and made 25 assists. Even the great Zinedine Zidane was 29, scoring 18 goals and making 19 assists.
Mbappé’s efficiency (0.58 goals per match) with France is exceptional. He will break Giroud’s record as the highest scorer in French history. At this rate, he should also surpass Hugo Lloris’ record of 145 appearances as the player with the most caps.
It was a typical Deschamps win: powerful and effective, but neither spectacular nor impressive. However, France have now qualified for their 15th consecutive major tournament, a remarkable achievement, as the 1994 World Cup was the last time they left on home soil. In those 14 competitions, they reached the final in six of them, winning three (two World Cups and a European Cup).
In Germany next summer, they will be among the favorites again, especially with Mbappe in the team. Mbappe felt like the most obvious choice when Lloris retired from international football after the World Cup in Qatar. He won his first six matches as France captain (he was an unused substitute in the friendly defeat to Germany last month), a feat matched only by Marcel Desailly in 1999.
French team He won the 2018 World Cup after losing in the European Championship final two years earlier. In the locker room after the win in Amsterdam on Friday, some players were discussing their ambition to do it again, but this time after losing the 2022 World Cup final to Argentina. They want to use this disappointment as incentive to win the Euro. It will be difficult to bet against them and against Mbappe.
