Luxembourg has reached the semi-finals of the play-off stage in the EURO 2024 qualifying round, but certainly, the level of the team ranked 87th in the world can hardly match that of France. 

This is the team that participated in the 2022 World Cup final, and is currently ranked 2nd by FIFA on the overall table of more than 200 teams worldwide.

Luxembourg is happy to face France

However, choosing an opponent for a friendly match is always something that is difficult to explain, including the reason the chosen team has a playing style similar to the upcoming opponents at a certain major event. 

One of the weakest teams in Europe was chosen by France as a practice opponent before the EURO finals, perhaps not only to find someone willing to be a “shooting target” for French strikers to regain the feeling of finishing…

There are too many options for coach Didier Deschamps when coming up with a starting lineup, with N’Golo Kante officially reappearing and Kolo Muani even being used as a right winger. Kylian Mbappe plays highest in аttаck with Antoine Griezmann and Marcus Thuram following right behind.

Antoine Griezmann dribbles the ball on the right side of the French national team

Although they attacked a lot, host France had difficulty finding a way into Luxembourg’s goal in the first half. 

Even though Mbappe plays very dynamically and aggressively, he still cannot create the attacking ball situations that the audience expects. It wasn’t until the 43rd minute that Mbappe crossed the ball so well from the left wing that Kolo Muani jumped high and headed in to score, opening the score.

Kolo Muani, being marked, still headed the opener for France

Coach Deschamps’ tactical personnel changes in the second half were more or less as effective as he expected. In the 70th minute, substitute defender Jonathan Clauss shot with his right foot from the edge of the penalty area, the ball went straight into the top corner of Luxembourg’s goal. 2-0 for France after a masterpiece from a young defender, who was chosen in place of Chelsea’s Malo Gusto.

Jonathan Clauss doubled the gap with a suρer goal

When there were only 5 minutes left in the match, the most аggressive and energetic player on the French team scored the goal himself to seal a 3-0 victory. 

Rookie Bradley Barcola stole the ball from the opponent’s feet, then rushed into the penalty area and passed the ball across to captain Mbappe, who leaned forward to cushion the ball and score.

Kylian Mbappe at the end of the match sealed a 3-0 victory for France

The French team will have a friendly match with Canada on June 10, a week before officially competing in EURO 2024 with the opening match against Austria.