Goals from captain Kylian Mbappe and Michael Olise earned France a 2-0 victory over Germany in Stuttgart on Sunday, and a third place finish in this season’s UEFA Nations League.
Hosts of the Nations League finals, Germany were looking to bounce back from defeat in the last four against Portugal but fell behind on the stroke of halftime after Mbappe controlled and finished well to score his 50th international goal.
Germany thought they had levelled through Deniz Undav early in the second half, but the VfB Stuttgart forward’s finish was ruled out following a VAR review.
France did, however, remain in control and should have made the result more comfortable before Mbappe squared for Olise late on to secure third spot, with Iberian neighbours Portugal and Spain facing off in the final later on Sunday.
“When I create a team, it’s to ensure that it can be as dangerous as possible for the other side,” France coach Didier Deschamps said.
“On the basis of these two games, yes, we have the ability to score goals, and had we found more efficiency, it could have been more.
“While we have shown enormous quality during this international window, the most impressive thing has been the squad’s excellent mindset.”
Cristiano Ronaldo‘s winner ensured Germany tasted defeat for the first time since last year’s European Championship on Wednesday.
They did start well against a France team who were beaten in a thrilling semifinal by Spain, with Florian Wirtz seeing one first-half slotted effort clip the post.
Mbappe, however, made no mistake after collecting Aurelien Tchouameni‘s long pass. The 26-year-old is now just one goal behind second-placed Thierry Henry in France’s all-time top goalscoring charts.
Undav’s fine finish seemingly restored parity early in the second half, but Niclas Fuellkrug was penalised for a foul in the build-up.
Had it not been for Manuel Neuer and the woodwork, France would have been out of sight long before Bayern Munich‘s Olise tapped home to secure victory that ends their season on a high.
“We lost patience too early and lost our structure in the second half,” Germany captain Joshua Kimmich told RTL. “We made too many mistakes and gave them what they wanted.
“We simply weren’t good enough in front of goal. Overall, we can’t lose patience so quickly.”