France 4-0 Ukraine: Hosts qualify for WC as Mbappe reaches 400 career goals

Kylian Mbappe put on a second-half show with two goals and an assist as France booked their spot at the 2026 World Cup with a 4-0 win over Ukraine.

Match Report

Didier Deschamps' side moved an unassailable six points clear of both Iceland and Thursday's opponents with one game to play in Group D, after a comfortable win at the Parc des Princes.

Anatoliy Trubin kept his side level in the first half as the Ukraine goalkeeper repelled Mbappe's drive before producing an expert stop to push Bradley Barcola's effort onto his right-hand post.

France then survived a nervy VAR review after Dayot Upamecano lunged to block Yehor Nazaryna's shot early into the second half, before seeing a penalty appeal go their way at the other end.

Taras Mykhavko was deemed to have felled Michael Olise after Rayan Cherki's ball in behind, and Mbappe made no mistake from 12 yards as he dinked a cool finish down the middle in the 55th minute.

France furthered their lead, and effectively made sure of all three points, when Olise swivelled on N'Golo Kante's pass and fired into the bottom-left corner with 14 minutes remaining.

Mbappe then doubled his personal account seven minutes later, profiting from Hugo Ekitike's industrious work to power home from close range, before the France forward returned the favour.

Ekitike turned from creator to finisher with just two minutes left, waiting patiently for Mbappe to centre before sweeping past Trubin to seal an emphatic win.

Data Debrief: Cherki stars before inevitable Mbappe show

Cherki led all players aged 21 or under for both chances created (75) and expected assists (11.7 xA) in Europe's big five leagues last season, and the France midfielder's creative abilities were on show once more in Paris.

The Manchester City playmaker created a game-leading four chances in the first half, as well as having the most shots (also four) and touches in the opposition area (seven).

His neat through-ball then created the chance for Olise to win the penalty for France's opener, before Mbappe moved closer to a personal milestone.

The Real Madrid forward moved onto 55 international goals, just two behind Olivier Giroud, who leads France's all-time scoring charts.

Mbappe also brought up 400 career goals for club and country with his second finish, adding to a fine individual outing.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

4' Olise has a shot from the edge of the box which is saved

7' Cherki's right-foot shot is blocked by defender

17' Mbappe has a powerful shot from distance but it's saved

31' Koné is booked for a mistimed challenge on Roman Yaremchuk

42' Barcola curls a shot which is saved

52' Upamecano's high foot has caught Nazaryna in the box but the referee says no pen

55' Penalty Goal! Mbappé breaks the deadlock from the spot! France 1-0 Ukraine

58' Mbappe into the box and tries a shot which is wide

69' Highlight from France vs Ukraine

76' GOAL! Kante feeds Olise who turns and has a ruthless finish! France 2-0 Ukraine

84' GOAL! Kylian Mbappe has scored his second of the game! France 3-0 Ukraine

89' GOAL! France 4-0 Ukraine

Line-ups

France XI: Digne, Kante, Maignan, Mbappe, Upamecano, Kounde, Saliba, Cherki, Manu Koné, Olise, Barcola

Subs: Brice Samba, Lucas, Theo, Nkunku, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Konate, Khéphren Thuram, Lucas Chevalier, Hugo Ekitiké, Gusto, Zaire-Emery, Maghnes Akliouche

Ukraine XI: Oleksandr Karavaev, Roman Yaremchuk, Oleksandr Svatok, Bogdan Mykhaylichenko, Oleksiy Gutsulyak, Yegor Nazaryna, Anatoliy Trubin, Ilya Zabarnyi, Oleg Ocheretko, Yegor Yarmolyuk, Taras Mykhavko

Subs: Yevgen Volynets, Viktor Tsygankov, Oleksandr Zubkov, Mykola Shaparenko, Vitaliy Mykolenko, Ivan Kalyuzhnyi, Valeriy Bondar, Yukhym Konoplya, G. Sudakov, Vladyslav Vanat, Dmytro Riznyk, Nazar Voloshyn