By Goal.com News on Sunday, 11 October 2020
Category: Goal.com News

LIVE: France vs Portugal

32' Danger for Portugal as Griezmann beats the offside trap to latch onto a long ball in behind the defence. The angle is tight but the Barcelona forward draws a smart save out of Patricio with his powerful strike.

29' The highest-scoring European in international history with 101 goals, Ronaldo is just nine away from breaking the world record set by Iran's Ali Daei. You would certainly be a fool to bet against him doing it before hanging up his boots!

26' Ronaldo is seeking his first-ever international goal against France. He will certainly be hoping for better fortunes than in his last outing against the French, with injury forcing him off early in the final of the 2016 European Championship.

24' GREAT DEFENDING! A good spell of pressure from Portugal results in Silva poking the ball through for Ronaldo, who lines up to pull the trigger. However, Hernandez does brilliantly to throw himself in the way and take the sting out of the shot.

21' Following a quickly-taken free-kick, Fernandes has plenty of time to advance and take aim from distance. Fortunately for France, the shot takes a deflection and goes behind for a corner. The hosts deal with the subsequent set-piece.

19' France are aiming to continue their impressive form on home soil of recent times. In fact, Les Bleus are unbeaten in 15 games and you have to go back to a 3-2 defeat by Colombia in March 2018 for the last time they were beaten in their homeland.

17' A patient build-up from France results in Rabiot clipping the ball into the box, where Pogba towers above the defence but is unable to direct his powerful header towards goal.

15' Today sees Lloris win his 117th international cap, moving him ahead of Marcel Desailly to outright third on France's all-time list. Only Lillian Thuram and Thierry Henry boast more international appearances for Les Bleus with 142 and 123 respectively.

12' Silva just couldn't stretch far enough! The Manchester City winger times his run to beat the offside trap as he looks to connect with Fernandes' clever ball in-behind. However, he is just unable to get the ball under control with his outstretched leg and Lloris collects.

11' Good build-up from Portugal down the right-hand side sees Silva feed the overlapping Semedo in the box. The right-back's cross takes a deflection and is gobbled up by Lloris.

9' At the other end, Felix tries to tip-toe his way through the French defence, who stand firm on this occasion to snuff out his threat.

7' France enjoy a neat and lengthy spell in possession, switching the ball from flank to flank. Eventually, their momentum comes to nothing as Mbappe's deflected cross is gathered by Patricio.

5' Heavily bandaged up, Giroud makes his way back onto the field.

3' Giroud is in need of further attention following that incident. The medical team are seeing to a nasty cut on the back of the striker's head, providing heavy bandaging to the wound.

1' OFF WE GO! The referee blows his whistle and Portugal get us underway.

The two teams are making their way onto the field. Next, we have the national anthems.

The top two in Group A3 do battle for the right to lead the way come the end of proceedings. Both sides come into the game with two wins from two; at least one of those perfect records will go today.

Meanwhile, Fernando Santos makes seven changes to the Portugal side that began their goalless draw with Spain earlier this week. Notably, Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes and Joao Felix all return to provide support for skipper Cristiano Ronaldo.

As expected, Didier Deschamps has made wholesale changes for France - nine in all from the side that began the 7-1 win over Ukraine on Wednesday. Olivier Giroud and Benjamin Pavard are the only survivors, while there are recalls for the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba and Raphael Varane.

SUBS: Bruno Varela, Joao Cancelo, Ruben Semedo, Rafa Silva, Andre Silva, Francisco Trincao, Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho, Renato Sanches, Daniel Podence, Diogo Jota, Rui Silva.

PORTUGAL (4-2-3-1): Rui Patricio; Nelson Semedo, Ruben Dias, Pepe, Raphael Guerreiro; William Carvalho, Danilo Pereira; Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Joao Felix; Cristiano Ronaldo (captain).

SUBS: Steve Mandanda, Kingsley Coman, Dayot Upamecano, Lucas Digne, Anthony Martial, Corentin Tolisso, Steven N'Zonzi, Clement Lenglet, Wissam Ben Yedder, Eduardo Camavinga, Ferland Mendy, Mike Maignan.

FRANCE (4-3-3): Hugo Lloris (captain); Benjamin Pavard, Raphael Varane, Presnel Kimpembe, Lucas Hernadnez; Adrien Rabiot, N'Golo Kante, Paul Pogba; Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe.

What a mouth-watering clash we have coming up at Stade de France, where the reigning World champions face the defending European and Nations League champions.

Hello everyone and welcome to our live coverage of the Nations League clash between France and Portugal in Group A3.

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