France qualified for the World Cup after beating Belarus

Two goals from Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud helped the European runners-up win 2-1, thereby maintaining top spot in Group A.

Goals: Griezmann 27' Giroud 33' - Saroka 44'

France needed a win to secure a direct ticket to the 2018 World Cup finals and they achieved that goal easily when they hosted Belarus in the final match.

Dominating their opponents from the start of the match, France continuously had situations to attack the goal and one of the attacks they used the most was to hang the ball into the penalty area for Giroud to take advantage of his aerial ability.

The Arsenal striker headed against the bar from Kingsley Coman's cross 20 minutes into the first half. Earlier, Raphael Varane also threatened the Belarus goal with a header into the top corner, forcing goalkeeper Sergey Chernik to save.

But the opening goal for Didier Deschamps' men came not from a header but from a central attack. The ball from midfield was played to Griezmann after just two passes and the Atletico star made no mistake with a low shot, sending the ball between Chernik's legs.

France created many chances but only scored two goals. Photo: Reuters

Six minutes later, Giroud doubled the lead with a somewhat fortunate goal. The Arsenal striker dribbled into the box after a pass from Griezmann. He pushed the ball a little too far, allowing Stanislav Dragun to intervene. However, the Belarus midfielder's clearance hit Giroud's foot and went towards the goal. The ball was so difficult that goalkeeper Sergey Chernik had to go into the net to pick the ball out for a second time.

Belarus pulled one back before half-time. Anton Saroka cut in front of Varane to meet Yuri Kovalev's cross and slotted a shot past Hugo Lloris. Minutes earlier, Saroka had controlled and volleyed from outside the box with great skill but the ball went over the bar.

France did not create any significant chances in the second half, and on the contrary, they almost equalized. Kovalev made a smart run and made a cross, putting Saroka in a very favorable position to score. However, from about 6 meters away, the Belarus striker's left-footed tap-in sent the ball wide of the target. This was a situation where the French defenders made a mistake in marking.

The French team stirred up the atmosphere with fans after the match with the "Viking dance". Photo: Reuters.

Deschamps brought Kylian Mbappe on midway through the second half and the PSG player provided some fresh sparks in attack. France had two penalty appeals but both were denied by the referee, once claiming Giroud was pulled down by a Belarus defender, and once claiming Mbappe was fouled by goalkeeper Chernik.

In the second half's injury time, Saroka had another chance but continued to miss from close range.

This victory helped France avoid having to play a play-off to qualify for the World Cup, something they had to do in 2010 and 2014. With a quality squad, Deschamps's team's struggles did not meet the expectations of fans. However, France is still the leading candidate to win the tournament's gold cup next summer.

According to VNE