(Football news) World Champions France secured a 2-0 win over Austria with goals from Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud, with the result helping Les Bleus climb in third place in Group A1 with five points in five games. France will travel to Denmark on Sunday and will be without  defender Jules Kounde and goalkeeper Mike Maignan who sustained injuries while the likes of Karim Benzema, Hugo Lloris, Paul Pogba are already unavailable for selection. 

Playing at the Stade de France, the hosts entered into the match against Austria with two losses and two draws. They didn’t take long to find their first opportunity with Mbappe’s effort being called offside in the second minute. Quick combination play between Antoine Griezmann and Mbappe resulted in Aurelien Tchouameni attempting to score, only for the effort to be tipped over by Austria keeper Patrick Pentz. 

The last thing France needed was another injury and that is exactly what happened with defender Kounde was forced off with a muscle problem while Maignan was replaced by Alphonse Areola at halftime due to a calf pain. The Austrian defence struggled to contain Mbappe who used his pace to create opportunities for his teammates early in the second half. The 23 year old scored the opening goal of the match after defeating five defenders and coolly finishing into the back of the net. 

Despite Austria’s attempts to get back into the match, it was France who struck again in the 65th minute with Olivier Giroud capitalising on an accurate cross by Antoine Griezmann to score his 49th international goal, just two behind the legendary Thierry Henry. The 35 year old was replaced by Ousmane Dembele and has now given France manager Didier Deschamps another option in their already star studded attacking lineup.

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