Aurelién Tchouameni captained France for the first time as his nation secured a convincing 4-1 victory over Israel to keep his team in the qualification positions from the UEFA Nations League Group A stage, ahead of Belgium and only a point behind Italy after three games.
With Kylian Mbappé absent and Antoine Griezmann having announced his retirement from international football, France coach Didier Deschamps was in need of a new captain and announced on Wednesday that it would be Aurelién Tchouameni who would wear the armband.
On his 38th international appearance, Tchouameni played until injury time in the second half, when he was replaced by Paris Saint-Germain’s Warren Zaire-Emery, recording a match-high 10 duels won in an effective and powerful midfield performance.
He also completed 92 passes, creating one chance which did not lead to a goal and recorded one shot with a powerful effort from the edge of the box which was blocked by Israeli defenders in the box to deny the Real Madrid man.
Up against an Israel side which lacked any real quality or top-level experience, Tchouameni bossed the game from midfield, where he started in a double pivot alongside his team-mate at club and country level with Eduardo Camavinga.
Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images
Camavinga opened the scoring
It took only seven minutes for Eduardo Camavinga to steal the headlines as he sent a low effort through several men from the edge of the box to open the scoring with his first goal for France on his 14th appearance for his country.
Israel equalised shortly after as Omri Gandelman headed in, but Camavinga then claimed an assist only four minutes after the equaliser as he showed some incredible footwork before picking out Chelsea’s Christopher Nkunku to beat his man and score.
While his involvement was lesser than that of Tchouameni, with only 53 passes completing being not far off half of what his captain recorded, but he did match his 90% pass completion rate and won all five of his tackles.
Camavinga’s return from an early-season injury is continuing to go swimmingly after a strong start for both club and country.
Next up for France is a tie with Belgium, which could prove to be decisive in the final standings, as the two teams will meet on Monday night in Brussels at the Stade Roi Baudouin.
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