France 0 Luxembourg 0: France held

FRANCE may have leapfrogged Sweden at the top of Group A, but they dropped two points as they drew 0-0 to Luxembourg at the Stadium Municipal.

The home side had a whopping 34 shots on goal in the World Cup qualifier with 76 per cent possession, but couldn’t break the deadlock in a disappointing evening for Les Blues. It was a hugely frustrating first half for the Euro 2016 runners-up whose team selection cost over a staggering £600million, as Didier Deschamps’ side missed a handful of key opportunities against Luxembourg – ranked No136 in the world and whose starting XI cost just £27,720.

Antoine Griezmann saw a shot sail over the bar in the 12th minute, with Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe both failing to hit the target in the next few minutes.

Monaco full-back Djibril Sidibe then thought he opened the scoring but his left-footed attempt went just wide of the post.

Pogba and Mbappe then had their shots well saved by goalkeeper Jonathan Joubert, as Thomas Lemar’s left-footed goalward shot was blocked.

Mbappe then missed again from inside the penalty box, before Olivier Giroud’s header was inches wide from creeping in the bottom left corner.

France could have been 4-0 up before 26 minutes, as Lemar, Pogba, Giroud and Samuel Umtiti all threatened to break the deadlock in the closing stages of the first half. The second half started how the first ended – France on the front foot and continuing to be frustrated by the landlocked country.

Lemar once again saw a shot sail wide, while Atletico Madrid’s striker Griezmann saw his right-footed strike go high over the bar after Sidibe found him with a cross

Kingsley Coman and Alexandre Lacazette – brought on as second-half substitutes – were next to face the groans of the home supporters, with failed attempts. Then totally against the run of play, Gerson Rodrigues almost gave the visitors the lead as he struck Hugo Lloris’ post on the 79th minute.

The Portuguese-born 22-year-old had his head in his hands as he saw his right-footed shot cannon against the woodwork after being played in by Mathias Janisch.

Sidibe then thought he netted a late winner, but was foiled by Joubert who prevented his shot from nestling in the bottom right corner.

From The Sun