Even when Antoine Griezmann is out of the picture, Kylian Mbappé is absent and they’re not having the greatest of nights, the French team is capable of scoring goals. Not just one or two, but four, as they did against Israel (4-1), when Les Bleus won the UEFA Nations League on Thursday, October 10, in the Bozsik Arena in Budapest, Hungary. The Israeli national team has not played matches on its territory since the October 7 attacks.
“Four goals, it’s been a while since that happened to us,” observed the French coach, Didier Deschamps, after the match. Eleven months and 14 games to be precise, like the number of goals scored against Gibraltar (14-0), in November 2023. And it’s been a year since a win against Scotland (4-1), in October. There have been too many taunts about France’s ineffectiveness in attack in recent months to hide this statistic: against Israel, Les Bleus took five shots on target and scored four times.
“We know that if we want to win, we have to be efficient. Today, we were,” enthused Bradley Barcola, who scored the final French goal of the evening late on (89th minute). It would be inaccurate to claim that the final three-goal gap was the result of implacable logic. It certainly reflected the difference in technical level between the two teams, but not the overall French performance.
In terms of control, Les Bleus did not have too many problems, as confirmed by having 67% of possession and a solid defensive base – despite an error of lining up to allow Omri Gandelman’s goal (24th minute), the only Israeli opportunity of the match. “We were serious and diligent,” described the coach, who also considered that his players had shown “a lot of enthusiasm.” Their desire to get the match off to a flying start did not last long, with extended periods of inertia, particularly in the second half.
Camavinga and Nkunku score
Griezmann’s international retirement before this match enabled much more pitch time for younger players, who still need to get to grips with the international scene and tame their performances further to produce moments of attacking grace, which are still all too rare. On the pitch, only Ousmane Dembélé had more than 40 caps to his name. “It’s a good opportunity, with the arrival of this new generation,” Eduardo Camavinga speaking on French television after the match.
The 21-year-old midfielder, one of the great talents who will wear the French jersey for many years to come, was the real joy-giver of the evening. He was one of the few Frenchmen to try and set the pace, and quickly scored the first goal of the match (7th minute), helped by Israeli goalkeeper Omri Glazer’s major error on his shot from the edge of the area.
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