Mbappé Shines as France Edge Iceland 2-1 in Thrilling World Cup Qualifier

In a tense World Cup qualifying encounter held on Tuesday at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France secured a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Iceland, maintaining their perfect record in Group D.

France's star striker Kylian Mbappé was instrumental in the victory, scoring one goal and assisting another. Iceland initially took the lead when Andri Lucas Gudjohnsen capitalized on a defensive mistake by France’s Michael Olise. However, Mbappé leveled the score for the hosts with a penalty just before halftime, restoring parity going into the break.

Shortly after resumption, Mbappé laid on a decisive assist for Bradley Barcola, who scored the winning goal past the hour mark. Despite damage to their squad, with Aurelien Tchouameni receiving a red card for a reckless challenge and France playing the last 20 minutes with ten men, the team held firm to secure the victory.

Iceland had a late equalizer by Gudjohnsen disallowed following a VAR review that found a foul on France’s Ibrahima Konaté. This decision preserved France's narrow lead and extended the team’s impressive 32-year home unbeaten run in World Cup qualifiers, a streak only interrupted once by Spain.

With this win, Didier Deschamps’s France tops Group D with six points from two games, three points clear of Iceland. Ukraine and Azerbaijan trail with one point each after their 1-1 draw earlier in the day.

Bradley Barcola reflected on the challenging match, stating, “It was tough during the whole game. We managed to score and that’s the main takeaway tonight.” The results underline France’s strong position as they continue their qualification campaign for the upcoming World Cup.