The Blues did the job, and even better, on Saturday evening during the French team’s big victory against Gibraltar (14-0) in Nice. A victory synonymous with first place in Group B of the Euro 2024 qualifiers, of which France will be seeded thanks to this ranking. And a new record, that of the biggest victory, in a match with head-turning statistics.
14-0, the biggest victory in the history of the Blues
By slapping Gibraltar 14-0, Didier Deschamps’ men beat their previous record for the largest victory which dates back to 1995 and the 10-0 inflicted on Azerbaijan. “The players asked me at half-time what the record was. They did the right thing. We must not trivialize even if we were facing a team that was weaker and reduced to ten. We did everything to make the score important. This is the ambition of this team, beyond ensuring we are seeded at the Euro. There are always higher demands and it’s good that the players take up these challenges almost every time,” Didier Deschamps underlined at a press conference.
With this new record, the French team also becomes the first European nation to score 14 goals in a qualifying match for a major competition (Euro and World Cup). Miroslav Klose’s Germany beat San Marino 13-0 in 2008.
300, Mbappé’s career goals total
By scoring a hat-trick, including a magnificent 40-meter lob, Kylian Mbappé came a little closer to the 51 goals scored for the selection by Thierry Henry, and the 56 scored by his teammate Olivier Giroud, author of a double on Saturday evening. But above all he scored his 300th career goal at just 24. Enough to exceed the passage times of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
30 assists for Griezmann
Author of a magnificent start to the season in the jersey of Atlético de Madrid, Antoine Griezmann did not take part in his team’s goal orgy on Saturday evening since he did not score. But Grizoo made up for it with an assist for Olivier Giroud’s first goal. Antoine Griezmann is now at 30 assists with the Blues, and his replacement in the heart of the game should allow him to boost this stats line a little more.
17 years, eight months and 10 days, Warren Zaire-Emery the youngest player since 1914
With his first start against Gibraltar at the age of 17 years, eight months and 10 days, Warren Zaire Emery became the youngest player to play in the French team since the First World War. And he did even better since he scored his first goal with the Blues after only 16 minutes of play. But the PSG midfielder injured his ankle during the action of the goal, and should be absent “several weeks”, according to coach Didier Deschamps. Let’s hope that this first record tenure will not weigh too heavily on WZE’s young career.