By Goal.com News on Sunday, 28 March 2021
Category: Goal.com News

LIVE: Kazakhstan vs France

46' France get us back underway for the second half! 

For all of France's possession in the first half, they didn't actually create many clear cut chances, with their only shot on target being Dembele's goal. Deschamps will be happy with the lead, but he'll still want to see an improvement going forward. As for Kazakhstan, they've done well to limit France's chances, and Baysufinov won't be too disappointed with their performance so far.

France take a 2-0 lead over Kazakhstan into the break. It's been a game of few chances at both ends, with Dembele breaking the deadlock 19 minutes in when he was played in by Martial just inside the box and he drilled his shot into the far bottom corner. They doubled their lead just before half-time when Maliy headed a corner into the back of his own net.

45' + 1' HALF-TIME: KAZAKHSTAN 0-2 FRANCE.

43' GREAT BLOCK! Mokin rushes off his line to close down Lemar on the left of the box, but he chips a cross over him and Alip towards Martial in the middle. Maliy races back into his box and just gets there in time to take it off the forward's head.

41' Vassilev cuts inside from the left, wrongfooting Dubois, and picking out Muzhikov who has space to run into. He takes too long to decide what he wants to do though which gives Zouma chance to win it back for France.

39' Kazakhstan still have everyone sitting back in their own half as France patiently play out from the back and Ndombele tries to speed things up by playing in Griezmann. He lays it off to Digne, but Nurgaliev cuts it out for the hosts.

37' Lenglet spots Dembele's run as he gets in between the Kazakhstan defenders and into the box, so he plays a long ball over the top towards him. He brings it down on the stretch, only for the offside flag to go up against him.

35' Kazakhstan are keeping possession in their own half at the moment, just knocking it around between their defenders as France sit back and invite them forward, but the hosts are in no hurry to mount an attack.

33' France break quickly on the counter with Ndombele picking out Ndombele's run down the left of the box. He holds it up well before trying to square it to Griezmann, but Bystrov is there to cut it out for Kazakhstan.

31' France are moving the ball upfield a lot quicker now and Pogba turns to play a throughball into Martial, who cuts into the box from the left. There's too much on the pass though and he can't keep it in play at the near post.

29' The initial free-kick is cleared by France, but Kazakhstan win it back and Valiullin is picked out in space just outside the box. He takes the shot first time, but slices at it and his effort flies high and wide of the near post.

27' Valiullin gets the better of Dubois down the left and he plays a one-two with Vassiljev to try and open up more space. Pogba and Ndombele both get back to help out and the wing-back gets sandwiched between the two to win a free-kick.

25' Lemar is caught on the ball by Vassiljev and he instantly plays a throughball into Fedin, who turns away from Dubois. He has no one up in support with him though and Lenglet gets back to nick it off him while he tries to hold it up.

23' Fedin's loose back pass to Tagybergen is picked off by Dembele and he turns away from the midfielder to run on goal. He tries to play in Martial ahead of him, but Alip is covering and comes away with the ball.

21' Kazakhstan just can't get a touch on the ball at the moment as France push forward again. The hosts are trying to close them down quickly, but Dubois just ghosts past Valiullin down the right.

18' It's a rare chance for Kazakhstan to break forward with Valiullin chasing down Muzhikov's pass down the left, but he has Dubois with him all the way. He hits his cross against the defender and France have it back again.

16' It's a great ball over the top from Ndombele to pick out Digne's run into the box and he hooks it back from the byline. He put it into a good area, but Griezmann didn't gamble on it and Erlanov clears his lines.

14' Martial drives into the box from the right and he has Griezmann with him in support, but he chooses to go for goal himself. He drills a shot towards the near post, but Alip gets back quickly to block it.

12' Pogba's throughball somehow gets through to Martial and he does well to hold off Erlanov as he turns to get a sight of goal. Maliy is closing him down as well though and he stops him from getting a shot away.

10' Still, France are keeping possession well and keeping Kazakhstan penned back in their own half, but they're not in any hurry to get into the final third. Pogba lays it off to Digne before continuing his run into the box, but the left-back chooses to go back to Lenglet.

8' Kazakhstan win a free-kick on the right and Bystrov takes it short to Muzhikov before getting it back. He swings a deep cross into the far post, but Lloris is there to collect it ahead of Fedin.

6' Lloris almost plays himself into trouble in his own six-yard box after he takes a poor first touch after Lenglet plays it back to him. Fedin is quick to close him down but the goalkeeper just manages to hook it clear of his goal.

4' It's well worked by France with a series of one-two passes to switch play from right to left and open up some space in behind Kazakhstan. Griezmann tries to pick out Lemar's run into the box, with a throughball, but it's intercepted by Maliy.

2' France are seeing a lot of the ball in the opening minutes and Pogba spots Martial peeling away from Alip on the edge of the box. He tries to pick him out with a long pass over the top, but the forward can't reach it on the stretch.

1' Fedin gets the game underway for Kazakhstan!

The teams are out on the pitch now, with kick-off just moments away.

Griezmann has played the last 45 games for the French national team - the longest streak for a Les Bleus player since the post-war era.

Didier Deschamps also makes nine changes after his side's draw with Ukraine on Thursday, with only Lloris and Griezmann staying in the line-up today.

Talgat Baysufinov makes nine changes from the team that played in their last outing against Lithuania in the Nations League in November, with only Alip and Tagybergen retaining their places.

FRANCE SUBS: Olivier Giroud, Raphael Varane, Mike Maignan, Adrien Rabiot, Moussa Sissoko, Steve Mandanda, Benjamin Pavard, Ferland Mendy, Lucas Hernandez, Kylian Mbappe, Wissam Ben Yedder, Kingsley Coman.

FRANCE STARTING XI (4-2-3-1): Hugo Lloris; Leo Dubois, Kurt Zouma, Clement Lenglet, Lucas Digne; Paul Pogba, Tanguy Ndombele; Thomas Lemar, Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele; Anthony Martial.

KAZAKHSTAN SUBS: Daniar Usenov, Ramazan Orazov, Stas Pokatilov, Ramazan Karimov, Abzal Beysebekov, Elkhan Astanov, Aleksandr Marochkin, Maksim Samorodov, Yerkebulan Tungyshbayev, Mukhamedjan Seysen, Timur Dosmagambetov, Yan Vorogovskiy.

KAZAKHSTAN STARTING XI (5-4-1): Alexandr Mokin; Marat Bystrov, Temirlan Erlanov, Sergiy Maliy, Nuraly Alip, Ruslan Valiullin; Serikzhan Muzhikov, Askhat Tagybergen, Vladislav Vassiljev, Azat Nurgaliev; Maxim Fedin.

France were left shocked in their opening qualifier when a second-half own goal sealed a 1-1 draw with Ukraine for the current World Champions. As for Kazakhstan, they're the last ones in the group to get their qualification campaign underway. It's their first match in 2021 and they're winless in their last five competitive outings (D1 L4), with their last win coming in their opening Nations League game in September last year.

Hello and welcome to live coverage of the World Cup Qualifier in Group D between Kazakhstan and France at the Astana Arena!

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