Euro 2024 qualifiers: against Gibraltar, France offers itself the greatest success in its history (14-0)!

Already assured of finishing at the head of Pool B of these Euro 2024 qualifiers in Germany, a competition for which she qualified easily after a flawless performance in 6 days. In Nice, the Blues hosted the modest Gibraltar team, without a single point – and zero goals scored (23 conceded) – in this campaign. Didier Deschamps then took the opportunity to align a central hinge Jean-Clair Todibo in his usual lair at the Allianz Riviera, but also Warren Zaire-Emery, for a historic start. Marcus Thuram, for his part, occupied the point of the French attack, accompanied by Kingsley Coman and Kylian Mbappé.

The French Promenade

But very quickly in this match, we witnessed a one-sided spectacle. After only three minutes of play, Yogan Santos sent a cross from Jonathan Clauss into his own goals (1-0, 3rd). His defensive friend Aymen Mouelhi imitated him following a shot from Antoine Griezmann deflected by his goalkeeper Dayle Coleing (2-0, 4th), before the goal was finally awarded to Marcus Thuram. In an action that he himself initiated from the central circle, Warren Zaire-Emery marked the history of the Blues a little more with his precocity by widening the gap, before leaving his team due to a dangerous tackle on the action of Santos’ goal, sent off after observation by the VAR (3-0, 16th).

Following an obvious hand from Joseph Chipolina in the area, Kylian Mbappé put his name on the scoresheet by wrong-footing the opposing goalkeeper (4-0, 30th). The goals followed one another in the last quarter of an hour of this first act: Jonathan Clauss’ strike from outside the penalty area (5-0, 34th), Coman’s goal from the surface (6-0, 36th) and the low strike of Youssouf Fofana – entered in place of Zaire-Emery – to offer France its biggest offensive record in its history (7-0). The visitors were sometimes saved by fine saves from Coleing, notably against Mbappé, offside (42nd) and congratulating his evening opponent after the action.

Mbappé in the 300 club

Returning from the locker room, Team 54 finally showed a little defensive solidity, with the last rampart defeating Griezmann on his dive (53rd). The first quarter of an hour of the second act finished, the floodgates opened again in the Gibraltarian rearguard: Adrien Rabiot took advantage of a mix-up following a corner to add to the offensive festival (8- 0, 63rd), before Coman added a second achievement to his tally after good work with Mbappé (9-0, 65th). You had to see the entry of Ousmane Dembélé to equal the biggest blue success for his first goal of the season (10-0, 73rd). Mbappé imitated Coman with a double from a perfect recovery from Théo Hernandez’s cross (11-0, 74th).

A goal which confirmed the record broken by Didier Deschamps’ flock, and this score only worsened on the green rectangle. The PSG striker then lobbed the visiting goalkeeper with a 40-meter shot (12-0, 82nd), to not only score his second hat-trick but also reach the symbolic mark of 300 professional goals. Entering the game in the second half, Olivier Giroud, who had been denied a goal (78th), added his stone to the building with two additional goals (13-0 in the 89th, 14-0 in the 90th + 1st) to confirm his status as top scorer for the Blues (56 goals). A historic success for the French team, which delighted the Riviera public against Gibraltar, which does not budge from its place as bottom of the group.