World Cup 2022: Champions Held by Plucky Ukraine

France 1-1 Ukraine

France were frustrated by a well-organised and determined Ukraine tonight at the Stade de France, as their World Cup 2022 opener ended in a draw.

France vs Ukraine was a clash between the two teams expected to dominate Group D though Les Bleus’ fans expected their men to emerge as clear winners. And when Antoine Griezmann opened the scoring with a brilliant curling effort, it all looked good for the world champions.

But a sucker punch early in the second half rather took the wind out of their sails and Ukraine held on for a well-earned point.

 

Highlights of the game

Manchester City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko had the captain’s armband for Ukraine and he looked to take the game to France from the first whistle, picking the ball up just outside the penalty area and firing a sweet strike just past the angle of post and crossbar.

France responded with Kylian Mbappe firing a shot just wide and then the in-form Olivier Giroud saw his shot deflected over the bar when he met a cut back from Theo Hernandez.

The breakthrough came with 19 minutes on the clock and it’s worth picking up the World Cup 2022 highlights if you can, because it was a moment of real quality from Griezmann.

The Barcelona man challenged for the ball wide on the right and it broke for him just outside the left corner of the penalty area. He steadied himself before curling a beauty into the top left corner, giving Georgi Buschan no chance.

The Ukraine keeper made his debut in the 7-1 mauling at the hands of France back in November so he may well be sick of the sight of Les Bleus already. But he was very lucky to escape punishment when he wiped out Kingsley Coman in the penalty area as the referee waved the Bayern man’s appeals away.

Giroud had a great chance to double the lead when he met a sublime cross from Benjamin Pavard, but his header flew over the bar.

Hugo Lloris hasn’t been a happy bunny at Spurs recently, describing his team’s performance against Dinamo Zagreb as a disgrace after they surrendered a two-goal lead to crash out of Europe.

But the France keeper was altogether more chilled tonight as he went into the break without having had a save to make. The pre-match World Cup 2022 betting odds pitched Les Blues as low as 1.20 to win, and we saw nothing in the first half to suggest any other outcome.

But a one-goal lead is not always enough and Lloris was picking the ball out of his net 10 minutes into the second half when Ukraine equalised thanks to a huge slice of luck.

Serhiy Sydorchuck picked up the ball just inside the penalty area and let fly. Lloris had his shot covered but it took a wicked deflection off Presnel Kimpembe’s inside leg and crept into the net off the inside of the post.

That seemed to stun the French into inaction as they struggled to make any inroads for in the next passage of play, save for a shot from Mbappe from a tight angle which went wide. France probed for an opening but at every turn they were met by a pack of yellow shirts and Paul Pogba resorted to shooting from 30 yards but was high and wide.

Buschan parried away another curling effort from Griezmann as the French set up camp in the Ukraine half, but they just didn’t have the guile to open up the stubborn Ukraine defence.

 

Key statistics

Didier Deschamps’ France totally dominated the first half, passing the ball around at ease and winning the shot count by eight to two, and Ukraine were a little fortunate to be just a single goal in deficit.

But after losing 7-1 in the previous meeting between these two teams Ukraine dug in and battled for a draw. And though the shot count ended up 18 to four, they limited France to speculative efforts for much of the second half.

 

What’s next?

There’s another full set of fixtures tomorrow night, and here at SBOTOP we’ll be reporting on Italy versus Northern Ireland and keeping you up to date with all the news and action.

France’s preparations were disrupted by a COVID outbreak at the hotel they were due to stay at before tonight’s game, and they have a fair bit of travelling to do over the next week.

Next up for Les Bleus on the road Qatar, it’s a trip to Kazakhstan on Sunday and then, next Wednesday, it’s off to Bosnia and Herzegovina to round of their three opening fixtures.

Andriy Shevchenko takes his Ukraine side back home for two winnable fixtures, firstly against Finland on Sunday and then they have a visit from Kazakhstan next Wednesday, presumably already softened up by Les Bleus!

 

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