Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele scored for Les Bleus as France routed Wales 3-0 in the international friendly before Euro 2020.
The world champions put in a top performance as they get ready for the European Championship finals that are all set to kick off next week.
France are in the ‘Group of Death’ alongside European champions Portugal and 3-time European champions Germany. Hungary are the fourth team to round up Group F of Euro 2020.
Neco Williams was sent off very early in the game, which meant Wales had to toil for 65 minutes with 10 men as they were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by France in their first friendly in preparation for Euro 2020.
It was already a daunting task for the visitors as they were facing the world champions on their home turf in Nice and to then have a disadvantage in numbers just meant that it was a matter of time before the champions pounced on the away side.
Liverpool’s Williams was sent off just 25 minutes into the match after a VAR check deemed his handball as intentional as Karim Benzema’s effort was goal-bound.
Benzema, making his first international appearance after almost six years, missed his penalty as Danny Ward pulled off a good save. The Welsh keeper was called into action once again just minutes later to keep out a deflected shot by Adrien Rabiot.
However, the breakthrough did come when Kylian Mbappe scored on the rebound after the keeper’s parry failed to be pushed wide, in the 34th minute.
Barcelona forward Antoine Griezmann curled in a beautiful second goal early into the second half with his left foot and club as well as country teammate, substitute Ousmane Dembele, also put his name on the scoresheet as he bagged France’s third after Benzema hit the post.
Wales were up for the challenge but Williams’ red card pushed them onto the back foot and it was more about damage control than anything else in their first friendly as they prepare for Euro 2020.
France head coach Didier Deschamps fielded an extremely strong French side that featured all of the team’s starters including Mbappe, Griezmann and Paul Pogba.
Interim Wales boss Robert Page was aiming to manage his players’ workloads before their opening fixture against Switzerland on 12 June at Euro 2020. Important first-team players including Aaron Ramsey and Ben Davies only appeared as second-half substitutes in Nice.
The result will have no bearing on Wales’ fortunes at Euro 2020. The players who remain from their memorable run at Euro 2016 that saw them qualify for the semifinals will know that friendlies mean nothing. They will look to be ready for the main tournament.
