Monday, June 9

Kylian Mbappe hit a landmark 50th goal for France as they beat Germany 2-0 at MHPArena on Sunday afternoon in the UEFA Nations League's third place playoff.

Kylian Mbappe scored his 50th international goal as France secured a 2-0 win over Germany in the UEFA Nations League third place playoff at MHPArena on Sunday afternoon.

With a little over half an hour on the clock, Julian Nagelsmann's men thought they had a great opportunity to open the scoring when a penalty was given for a foul on Karim Adeyemi, though the decision was soon reversed and the forward was given a yellow card for simulation instead.

Less than 15 minutes later, Mbappe found the back of the net with a fantastic strike that was too powerful for Marc-Andre ter Stegen to keep out despite the Barcelona goalkeeper getting a hand on the ball.

The second period began with more frustration for Germany, who thought Deniz Undav had levelled the match when he found the back of the net from the edge of the box, but that effort was ruled out for a foul in the buildup.

As if to add insult to injury, Les Bleus were able to pull away from their opponents late on, when Michael Olise doubled their advantage courtesy of a defensive mix-up.

In truth, DFB-Team were wasteful throughout the 90 aside from their disallowed strikes, and with four big chances missed by the final whistle, they will be ruing their failings.

---

SPORTS MOLE'S VERDICT

Germany boss Nagelsmann will walk away from this game frustrated with his team's inability to take chances, as well as the decisions that went against his side on Sunday.

That being said, creating so many chances in the first place against one of the world's strongest nations is commendable, and they will take their lessons from this clash into future tournaments.

As for France, they were arguably second best in this match, but the individual ability of their squad made the difference as it has so many times in the past.

Deschamps has been under scrutiny for many years for seemingly failing to get the most out of the group, but it is hard to argue against his record of winning.

---

GERMANY VS. FRANCE HIGHLIGHTS

32nd min: Karim Adeyemi (Germany) simulation

Adeyemi goes down in the box after seemingly clashing with Mike Maignan, but while the referee initially gives a penalty, the Borussia Dortmund forward is found to have dived and receives a yellow card for simulation.

45th min: Germany 0-1 France (Kylian Mbappe)

Aurelien Tchouameni crosses into the box from the right flank, and the ball goes just over Joshua Kimmich's head to land at the feet of Mbappe, who cuts inside and fires a powerful strike into the right-hand side of the net.

54th min: Deniz Undav (Germany) disallowed goal

Adrien Rabiot is dispossessed by Niclas Fullkrug, leaving Undav through on goal, and the Stuttgart forward sends France goalkeeper Maignan the wrong way when slotting into the bottom-left corner from the edge of the box.

However, a VAR review causes the goal to be ruled out for a foul by Fullkrug on Rabiot in the buildup.

45th min: Germany 0-2 France (Michael Olise)

The German backline fails to deal with a hopeful long ball forward from inside France's own box, and a misplaced touch falls to Mbappe just beyond the halfway line, where the Real Madrid man carries it forward and squares a pass to Olise to tap home from eight yards out.

---

MAN OF THE MATCH - KYLIAN MBAPPE

Mbappe opened the scoring with a goal that showcased his ability to make a smaller chance into a serious threat, before laying on an assist for Olise's tap in late on.

A 50th goal for France puts him just seven strikes away from being the top scorer for Les Bleus.

---

GERMANY VS. FRANCE MATCH STATS

Possession: Germany 56%-44% France

Shots: Germany 20-15 France

Shots on target: Germany 6-8 France

Corners: Germany 9-6 France

Fouls: Germany 11-7 France

---

BEST STATS

Kylian Mbappé is just the third man to score 50+ goals for France after Olivier Giroud (57 in 137 caps) and Thierry Henry (51 in 123 caps). 

Fewest games needed to score 50 goals for Les Bleus: 

◉ 90 - Kylian Mbappé 

◎ 113 - Thierry Henry

◎ 115 - Olivier Giroud 

The Real… pic.twitter.com/mNJIoicQmF

— Squawka (@Squawka) June 8, 2025

Adrien Rabiot's game by numbers vs. Germany:

55 touches

12/13 duels won

4/4 take-ons completed

4 clearances

4 fouls won

2 tackles

2 interceptions

0 fouls conceded

0x dribbled past

A much improved performance. ?#NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/kvBT7S2qa4

— Squawka Live (@Squawka_Live) June 8, 2025

 

---

WHAT NEXT?

Both nations will turn their attention to autumn's World Cup qualifiers, with Germany set to face Slovakia on September 4, while France play Ukraine the next day.ID:574488:1false2false3false: from db desktop :LenBod:collect9873:

Collect / Create New Data