France forward Kylian Mbappe moved to within one goal of equalling his country’s all-time goalscoring record with a sumptuous chip in the 2-1 win over Brazil.
Les Bleus faced the Selecao in a friendly at the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts on Thursday night in the first of two matches planned for both sides during the final international break before this summer’s World Cup.
And Mbappe struck in the first half to give his side the lead, latching onto a through ball from Ousmane Dembele and racing clean through before lifting a lovely finish over Ederson.
It was the 56th international goal for Mbappe in his 95th game for France, and it took him one behind Olivier Giroud’s all-time record of 57 goals.
Brazil fought back in an end-to-end encounter and they looked well-placed to equalise after a period of dominance ended with a red card for Dayot Upamecano, the Frenchman sent off for clipping Wesley when the defender was clean through on goal.
However, it was France who struck next in Foxborough, with Michael Olise sliding an inch-perfect pass for Hugo Ekitike to lift an accomplished finish over the onrushing Ederson.
Mbappe was then denied a chance to move level with Giroud as he was taken off after the second goal, with the 27-year-old replaced by Marcus Thuram on 67 minutes.
Nevertheless, Les Bleus fought to a narrow 2-1 win in the end, with a goal from Bremer not enough for Brazil to fight back late on.
And Mbappe will likely get the chance to equal his country’s all-time scoring record in another friendly on 29 March, with Les Bleus taking on Colombia in Maryland.
The Real Madrid man recently denied rumours of club medical staff misdiagnosing a knee injury, while he has stated that knee-related injury problems are “truly behind me”.
