In the great book ofFrench teamthere are chapters that span the ages. For a long time, France-Azerbaijan remained in the memory as a sort of bookmark. Thirty years ago, one September evening, in Auxerre, the Blues pulverized the Caucasian nation with a double-digit score (10-0). It must have been anecdotal, already, at that moment, but it was a founding moment for the great conquests which followed.
Zinédine Zidane and Frank Leboeuf still had hair, and the 1998 generation was starting to make its mark. Water has flowed under the bridges and the generations have passed the torch, but the Blues of Didier Deschamps would sign for the same destiny, at the dawn of a World Cup which will take them to America. This third group match was not ordinary for a promotion which broke the goals record two years ago, against Gibraltar (14-0).
Since this match, which looked like a big gap, had limited interest, it was necessary to give it a little substance, with panache, goals, play – everything that we saw, in sequences only, in this year 2025. And then Didier Deschamps repeated it: the nature of the opponent changes nothing in the balance sheet. A victory against Azerbaijan is no less important than against Ukraine or Iceland. The Blues therefore combined all this data to have a pleasant evening and build on their momentum from September.
Mbappé (almost) took care of everything… before getting injured
The starting eleven was a first curiosity. Deprived of Ousmane Dembélé, Désiré Doué, Bradley Barcola and Marcus Thuram, Deschamps had relied on a new look eleven with an Olise-Coman-Mbappé-Ekitike quartet in attack. Faced with a low block, salvation had to come through movement, combinations and speed in transmissions, but there was always a touch too many, an approximate control or a slip to push the initiated actions. Everything would have been easier, surely, if Kylian Mbappé had found the net with his powerful shot after a high interception after 14 seconds.
But the captain of the Blues has legs of fire. When everyone started to lose their noses, he reminded, brutally, that he was the only one – with Olise to a lesser extent – to have the key to force the lock. So just before the break, Mbappé mystified three full-line defenders and armed a low shot into the window to put these hard-working Blues on the right track (1-0, 45th+2).
Kylian Mbappé, author of his 53rd goal for the France team.
We can't really write that it's a train that arrives on time, precisely, since this goal was scored a little late. We expected better, and what followed confirmed these difficulties in extricating ourselves from this red tide. Coman made a little more difference, Olise found oxygen and Mbappé remained electric. This was not enough to really set the Park ablaze, and it is also a credit to be given to this Azerbaijan team, confirming the idea of a leveling between the nations in these endless truces.
The Blues, however, had the merit of giving a little more character to this victory by scoring two new goals, one of which came from a powerful helmet hit from Adrien Rabiot upon receiving a bell-shaped cross from Kylian Mbappé (2-0, 68th). Best passer in the history of the Blues with 33 offerings, the Madrilenian took care of his numbers again, getting a little closer to Giroud's record with his 53rd goal for the Blue before grimacing as he gave up his place, ten minutes from the end, after discomfort in his right ankle. Mbappé is 26 years old. It trivializes the exceptional. The Blues were not this evening, but the end of the evening had some nice little stories in store, like the entries of Maghnes Akliouche and Jean-Philippe Mateta, who took on an international air, and the nice goal from the returning Florian Thauvin on a superb pivot control-recovery sequence for the 3-0 (84th). The contract is fulfilled. Without mention.
The French team continues its merry way with America in its sights.
