France-Iceland (2-1): for the Blues, the American dream takes shape

"If you do the math, 3 + 3 equals 6. That's very good." Manu Koné is pragmatic, like coach Didier Deschamps, who allowed himself a touch of irony on TF1 after the French team's second victory in as many qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup, this Tuesday against Iceland (2-1). "It's normal. Everyone will find it normal that we're first with six points. We did it, we couldn't have done more..." Indeed, they couldn't have done more.

Facing their two biggest opponents in Group D, Les Bleus did the job, pulling off a clean sweep despite injuries (Dembélé, Doué) and Iceland's thorny low block. There were times when there was a lack of magic and inspiration, as seen in Michael Olise's mediocre performance, but the main thing is clear for the French team, which already has a good foothold in the United States.

"I expected the Icelanders to respond athletically. I expected the block to be very deep. Being behind on the only mistake we made wasn't easy," the national coach analyzed. "We had to make an effort at the end of the match, but we have the players to cause damage against such a dense block."

A great satisfaction with the evening, awarded a 7.5/10 in our columns, captain Kylian Mbappé, scorer and assist provider, showed his best side. Scorer of his 52nd goal for the French national team from the penalty spot, one more than Thierry Henry, the Real Madrid striker returned to his good old habits at the Parc des Princes.

"Every victory brings us a little closer to the truth and the World Cup. We'll see what we do in October; it will be different in Iceland. We're very happy as a team to have won this match. From a scoring perspective, it's perfect," he told Channel 1.

In qualifying matches for a major competition (Euro or World Cup), Deschamps' Blues never disappoint: no defeat in the last 25 matches (20 W, 5 D), since a defeat in Turkey in June 2019. In other words, an eternity!

Aurélien Tchouaméni's dismissal in the 68th minute certainly made the end of the game more difficult, but the world runners-up didn't give up, thanks, admittedly, to a final VAR intervention that prevented the opposition from equalizing. "We put ourselves in difficulty, but the most important thing is the six points at the end of this rally," Malo Gusto recalled. "Iceland pushed hard in the second half, we had to show character. We did that well tonight. It's important to create a sense of community within the group."

On this point, the staff will find plenty to be satisfied with. See you in October, now, to capitalize on a start that was all the more impressive since Ukraine was unable to beat Azerbaijan this Tuesday evening (1-1). In the standings, the Blues are three points ahead of Iceland and five ahead of the other two. The "American" dream is already not far away...