⚽️ France Defeats Finland in Final Qualifying Round Game ⚽️

 

🏆🇫🇷⚽  On est les Champions ! 🏆🇫🇷⚽ 

  

France managed to earn a 2-0 win against Finland yesterday in a game that did not mean all that much to the defending World Cup champions, but meant everything to Finland, who were hoping to qualify for the tournament themselves for the first time.  

It was not meant to be for Finland, however.

Despite some early limitations and sloppiness on offense, France got going in the second half behind the brilliant play of two of their brightest superstars, Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappé. They went a long time without scoring, but looked sharp once they really got things going late.  

Benzema broke through in the 66th minute, ending what had been a scoreless draw and putting the defending champions up, 1-0.  

Then, Mbappé earned a goal in the 76th minute to effectively ice the game.  

Considering that France was not playing for high stakes, and that Finland clearly was, it was an impressive win. Finland finished the qualifying round with 11 points, but missed out on qualifying for the World Cup because Ukraine defeated Bosnia 2-0 on the road to take second place with 12 points, just one ahead of Finland.  

France finished the Group D with a total of 18 points earned from eight games. They had already secured their spot into the World Cup in Qatar, which is scheduled to be played next year in autumn, later on in the calendar year than most World Cup tournaments have been played in the past.