Republic of Ireland’s slim Euro 2024 qualification hopes took another major hit as they were beaten 2-0 by World Cup finalists France in Paris.
Stephen Kenny’s side went to the French capital with hope after running Les Bleus close in a 1-0 Dublin defeat in March, but goals early in each half from Aurelien Tchouameni and Marcus Thuram finding the net early in each half.
Ireland, who were without the injured Evan Ferguson, came close soon after France’s second as Chiedoze Ogbene forced Mike Maignan into a superb reflex save from close range.
But ultimately, Ireland were let off the hook by Kylian Mbappe not having his shooting boots on in a simple France win which saw the hosts have 22 shots on goal along with the near 70 per cent possession.
Kenny’s side now turn their attentions to what looks like a must-win game with the Netherlands at the weekend, with their qualifier in Dublin representing their last realistic chance of victory to boost their qualification hopes.
Should the Republic of Ireland pull off a shock win at the Aviva Stadium, then Kenny’s side will join the Dutch and Greece in joint-second place on six points. The Irish manager issued a rallying cry to the country’s supporters to get behind the team.
“From our point of view, it’s all about Sunday. That’s the main objective,” Kenny told RTE Sport after the game.
“It won’t be easy, they [the Netherlands] won 3-0 [against Greece] tonight and they’ve got quality players.
“We have won three out of our four competitive games at home, scored nine goals and only lost to France. At home, since the end of Covid, we have been able to get full-capacity crowds – all of them have been sell-outs. The crowd give us energy, against France [at home] they gave us that.”
The tone of the game was set early on as Ireland camped in their box in the first half while France tried to pierce their defence.
The visitors actually barely ventured forwards after lumping an early free-kick, won after nine seconds of play, into the France box to be easily cleared.
Despite early half chances for Mbappe and Adrien Rabiot, Les Bleus found their opener as Tchouameni was set to shoot from distance and he duly obliged, rifling a wonderful effort past Gavin Bazunu at full stretch.
Both Mbappe and Tchouameni cost their respective clubs Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid £230m – which is ten times the price for Ireland’s all-time record transfer, which was Nathan Collins’ move to Brentford earlier this year for £23m.
France thought it was two when Mbappe squeezed a ball past Bazunu at the near post but there was a correct offside given against Marcus Thuram, who had replaced the injured Olivier Giroud just moments earlier.
Ireland had barely made it out of the tunnel before France made it two, as Mbappe’s blocked shot fell into the path of Thuram, who netted his first international goal with a swivel and shot.
SkySports
