Holland v France match report
So, a pretty predictable night with one exception – Luxembourg battling back to draw with Belarus despite having only 10 men. It was their only shot, too. Neither side will be in Russia, though. France look big favourites to finish top of Group A, but Sweden could well pip Holland to the play-off place. In Group B, the three away teams won. That was true to form but Switzerland were not entirely convincing against Andorra. And in Group H Christian Benteke scored the fastest ever goal in World Cup qualifying history, setting up Belgium for a 6-0 win over Gibraltar after only seven seconds. Bosnia and Greece both won 2-0. Thanks for reading.
The other results
GROUP A
Belarus 1-1 Luxembourg
Sweden 3-0 Bulgaria
GROUP B
Andorra 1-2 Switzerland
Faroe Islands 0-6 Portugal
Latvia 0-2 Hungary
GROUP H
Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 Cyprus
Estonia 0-2 Greece
Gibraltar 0-6 Belgium
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FULL-TIME! Holland 0-1 France
Pogba’s goal on the half hour is enough for Les Bleus. They deserved it despite not being at their best. Holland showed some decent flashes but they lack a cutting edge.
90 min +2: France kill time by replacing Griezmann with Kanté.
Goal: Joao Cancelo has made it 6-0 to Portugal in injury time.
90 min: There will be three minutes added on and Holland are wrongly given a corner after the ball comes off Depay last. Blind shoots over when it’s sent in anyway.
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88 min: Janssen heads down to Depay and the winger shoots first time but Lloris makes a solid stop.
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Goal: Cristian Martínez has pulled one back for Andorra in the first minute of injury time. Can they equalise against Switzerland? Probably not.
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Goal: More bad news for all you Faroes out there as Joao Moutinho scores Portugal’s fifth.
Goal tally check in from JR in Illinois: “With about ten minutes left we’re at 24 goals, 33.33% of which have been scored by Belgium and Switzerland. Too bad betting is illegal here. Or maybe not as I was ready to back Faroe Islands to qualify at the start of today. I don’t like to make predictions but I don’t think they’re going to make it.”
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Goal: Luxembourg are level. Aurélien Joachim has made it 1-1 in Belarus.
Goal: Dzeko has a second, making things a bit more comfortable for Bosnia against Cyprus. It’s 2-0 with nine minutes to go.
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Goal: Pavel Savitskiy has given Belarus the lead against Luxembourg.
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78 min: Pogba and Strootman pick up a yellow card each after a little schemozzle before Gameiro trots off, to be replaced by Gignac.
Goal: Adam Szalai makes it 2-0 to Hungary in Latvia.
Goal: Gibraltar have now been hit for six. Eden Hazard bringing up the half dozen for Belgium.
Goal: Andorra have conceded for a second time against Switzerland, Admir Mehmedi finding the net again.
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74 min: Strootman goes down in the area under pressure from Matuidi having been fed by Janssen. Play, rightly, continues. It’s never a penalty.
72 min: Memphis Depay lines up a free kick on the left. Everybody expects him to cross but he shoots from a silly angle. Lloris claims and the home crowd groan. For all his raw talent, sometimes Depay’s decision making really lets him down.
Goal: With 20 minutes remaining, the deadlock has been broken in Zenica. Bosnia lead Cyprus thanks to the dependable Edin Dzeko.
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70 min: Karsdorp piles forward again and sends a tasty cross in from the right. It almost reaches Dost.
67 min: Anthony Martial replaces Dimitri Payet. The West Ham player’s last act is to tee up Pogba from a corner, whose header from close range should really have put the game to bed.
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Goal: Konstantinos Stafylidis scores in Tallinn, making it 2-0 to Greece.
Goal: Cristiano Ronaldo is back on the scoresheet, making it 4-0 to Portugal against the Faroes.
62 min: Temporarily down to 10 men with Dost getting ready to come on, Karsdorp picks out Depay from the right and the Manchester United reserve shoots wide. Depay has been decent since coming on.
61 min: And now some bad news for Holland – Wijnaldum has gone to ground clutching his right hamstring. That will be the end of his evening and Liverpool may also be worried. Dost is getting ready to come on, meaning a change in formation.
60 min: France remain comfortable and it’s not particularly obvious what Holland’s Plan B is.
Goal: Sweden are strolling against Bulgaria. Victor Lindelof has added their third.
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55 min: Gameiro has a good chance, played in by a class pass from Pogba. The striker takes an exquisite first touch to beat Bruma but Stekelenburg is out quickly to block his shot. Griezmann fires the rebound over.
Goal: Benteke has his hat-trick. And Belgium have five. What will it end up? 6-, 7-, 8-0? His first, I should add, came after only seven seconds – the quickest goal in World Cup qualifying history.
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53 min: It’s become quite tedious in Amsterdam.
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Goal: Dries Mertens has got in on the Belgium act, making it 4-0 after 51 minutes. Poor Gibraltar.
47 min: Janssen rolls Varane and shoot from a tight angle. He can only find the side netting.
Restarted!
46 min: France restart and immediately give possession away.
@alansmith90 the Dutch side is a who's who of "who?"s isn'it, not even a thimbleful of stardust.
— Harry Palmer (@Harry_Palmer1) October 10, 2016
Yes, this is fair, but some of the young players have plenty of potential and there is the makings of a good side there – in the future, but maybe not right now.
“Totally agree on Griezmann,” writes Johan Sjostedt. “His touch is just sexy, there is no other word for it. I could watch him receive passes all day, and I say that as a straight married man.”
The other half-times
GROUP A
Belarus 0-0 Luxembourg
Sweden 2-0 Bulgaria
GROUP B
Andorra 0-1 Switzerland
Faroe Islands 0-3 Portugal
Latvia 0-1 Hungary
GROUP H
Bosnia-Herzegovina 0-0 Cyprus
Estonia 0-1 Greece
Gibraltar 0-3 Belgium
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Half-time: Holland 0-1 France
Paul Pogba’s goal is the difference at the break.
45 min: There will be two minutes added on in Amsterdam.
Goal: Sweden have doubled their advantage over Bulgaria. Oscar Hiljemark has scored on the stroke of half time.
Red card: Luxembourg’s Dirk Carlson has been shown a second yellow in their game with Belarus. It remains scoreless there.
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“If we’re handing out plaudits to the French, how about one for Raphaël Varane?” emails Charles Antaki. “Not many central defenders manage that elegant, languid look while also being understated and efficient. Having Pepe as his club team-mate helps bring out the contrast, of course.”
Goal: Christian Benteke has his second of the evening in the Algarve, making it Belgium 3-0 Gibraltar. Their share of the ball has at least dropped to 69%.
41 min: Holland have a big penalty shout turned down. Janssen’s shot is blocked by the midriff of Koscielny but as the France defender falls to the ground it comes back off his hand. It’s entirely accidental, play continues.
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Goal: Fear not, home teams, because Sweden have taken the lead against Bulgaria thanks to Ola Toivonen.
40 min: Karsdorp has done very well at right back for Holland. He wins another corner after shaking off Matuidi and sending in a cross that Kurzawa puts out.
Nine goals have been scored by six of the away sides. No home team has yet found the net.
Goal: A 37 minute hat-trick for Silva! The Portugal striker has ensured any mention of Faroe Islands being The New Iceland has been firmly nipped in the bud. It’s 3-0 and the deficit is unlikely to get any smaller.
35 min: Messi aside, is there a better close control dribbler than Griezmann right now? He has slalomed into the box with the ball like velcro to his boots and eventually wins a corner.
GOAL! Holland 0-1 France (Pogba)
30 min: Wow. Pogba has been near anonymous but he has produced a rocket to beat Stekelenburg. A poor pass from Bruma is intercepted by Koscielny, who quickly feeds Payet. The West Ham man squares to Pogba, who takes on magnificent swipe through the ball from 30 yards. The Dutch keeper gets a touch but there’s too much on the shot for him to keep it out. Take that, haters.
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28 min: Holland, after a slow start, are purring now. Wijnaldum dances down the right and sends a dangerous cross in, forcing Koscielny into action.
Goal: Fabian Schar has put Switzerland in front from the penalty spot in Andorra.
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24 min: Depay’s dead ball delivery is far superior to Blind and Varane does well to deny Van Dijk finishing off. Blind, though, is back on corner duty. It’s cleared.
23 min: Holland have certainly improved in the past few minutes. They have a free in a decent position on the right after Koscielny won the ball in the air but then the Arsenal defender’s arm collided with Karsdorp’s head.
Goal: Portugal are also 2-0 up. Silva is on for a hat-trick with 68 minutes to go.
Goal: Belgium now lead Gibraltar 2-0, Axel Witsel doubling Roberto Martínez’s side’s lead. They have had 78% of the ball. It’s so competitive.
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18 min: Holland win another corner after Blind’s cross from the left was blocked by Varane, but again the left back’s ball in is cleared with consummate ease.
16 min: And an early sub for Holland as Depay replaces Promes, who pulled up lame.
15 min: Holland win a corner after Karsdop’s cross from the right is blocked. Blind trots across to put in an inswinger, which Griezmann heads it away at the near post. That’s such a poor delivery from the Manchester United defender.
So, four of the nine away teams have scored and none of the home sides have.
Goal: Hungary lead Latvia 1-0 through Adam Gyurcso.
Goal: It has taken two games and 12 minutes but the Faroe Islands have conceded. Andre Silva has put Portugal in front with their first attempt.
12 min: Sissoko puts in a couple of crosses from the right but both are hooked away.
9 min: Holland get a first solid period of possession but the hosts are yet to have had a meaningful attack.
7 min: France look good here. Gameiro is fed by Payet first time but Karsdorp and Van Dijk are both on hand to crowd the striker out as he drives towards goal.
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Goal: Greece lead Estonia in Tailinn thanks Vasilios Torosidis.
3 min: Gameiro wins France’s first corner by placing sufficient pressure on Karsdorp. Payet’s delivery is headed wide by Varane.
Goal: Oh dear, Belgium lead Gibraltar inside a minute in Faro. Christian Benteke has opened the Red Devils’ account. This could be very ugly indeed.
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And all the other games have started, too. Goals from the other eight as they go in.
1 min: Holland get us going at the Amsterdam Arena, playing from left to right as we watch it.
Belarus v Luxembourg is the first game underway and they have just kicked off in Andorra, Faroe Islands and Bosnia.
The anthems
Holland will be in orange, with France in white instead of blue.
“Hey Alan, 28 goals, huh?” JR in Illinois emails. “What percentage of those 28 do you think will be scored by Belgium and Switzerland? I will guess they will score more than 30% of today’s goals.” That’s a fair shout.
This is a big evening for Paul Pogba. He has not just been under pressure at Manchester United to perform but for his national side too. Some critics have asked for the world’s most expensive player to be dropped. Will he be able to stick to the #haterz?
Blind’s young Holland team, meanwhile, could become a very good side in a couple of years but look to be a little way off yet. Victory this evening though would be a statement.
In 24 meetings between Holland and France, they have 10 wins each. This is the decider, right?
The starting cast for tonight’s feature
Holland (wearing No1-11!!!!): Stekelenburg; Karsdorp, Bruma, Van Dijk, Blind; Strootman, Wijnaldum; Promes, Propper, Klaassen, Janssen.
France: Lloris; Sidibé, Varane, Koscielny, Kurzawa; Pogba, Matuidi; Sissoko, Griezmann, Payet; Gameiro.
Referee: Damir Skomina (Svn).
Hello. There are nine games tonight but one stands out more than the rest: Holland v France in Amsterdam in Group A. Les Bleus are undisputed favourites to pip Oranje to top spot a year from now, making this a tad more important for tonight’s hosts. Their recent troubles have been covered extensively by now, but it is worth remembering France opened their campaign with a 0-0 draw against Belarus. Can Danny Blind get one over Didier Deschamps in the race to Russia? We’ll learn a lot more over the next three hours.
Of course, I will keep an eye on the other eight games, too – featuring Belarus v Luxembourg and Sweden v Bulgaria in the same pool as our feature fixture. Elsewhere, Andorra host Switzerland in Group B, the European champions Portugal visit Faroe Islands, who have four points and are yet to concede, while Hungary travel to Latvia. In Group H the big question is how many Roberto Martínez’s Belgium can put past Gibraltar, while Bosnia-Herzegovina welcome Cyprus and Estonia take on Greece.
All nine kick-off an hour from now (7.45pm BST). How many goals will be scored across all nine games? I’m going to guess 28.
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