France shrugged off Kylian Mbappe’s absence and Antoine Griezmann’s retirement to comfortably overcome Israel 4-1 in the Nations League on Thursday.
Eduardo Camavinga and Christopher Nkunku set France on their way with first-half goals in Budapest, where Israel are playing all their home games due to the security situation in the Middle East.
Didier Deschamps named a squad that for the first time since 2016 did not feature either Mbappe or Griezmann.
Mbappe was left out of this game and Monday’s tie in Belgium to allow the France captain time to regain full fitness after a thigh injury.
While the Real Madrid star’s absence is only temporary, Griezmann’s is permanent after his decision to quit the international scene last week.
Griezmann’s exit signalled the end of an era for the French side that won the 2018 World Cup and reached the final four years later in Qatar.
Yet there was plenty to like about Deschamps’ new-look line-up captained by Real Madrid’s Aurelien Tchouameni — this win, on the back of victory over Belgium after an opening loss to Italy, leaving France second in Group A2, one point behind Italy.
Deschamps was quick to emphasise the “significant potential” of his young squad.
“It is through matches like this that they will gain experience for the months to come,” he said.
For Israel this third straight defeat left them bottom of the table without a point.
Israel coach Ran Ben Shimon named goalkeeper Omri Glazer, returning from injury, as captain.
But Glazer’s first interaction proved unfortunate, the captain fumbling Camavinga’s tame attempt from outside the box to gift France a seventh-minute lead.
The Real Madrid midfielder was almost too embarrassed to celebrate his first goal for his country in a competitive fixture.
Israel levelled before the half-hour courtesy of Omri Gandelman’s stinging header which required the seal of approval from VAR before being confirmed.
But France were back in front shortly after when Camavinga turned provider, his deft assist setting up Nkunku to slot home from a tight angle to open his account for Les Bleus.
Camavinga in a sense was righting an unintentional wrong as it was his training clash with Nkunku that ruled the Chelsea forward out of Deschamps’ 2022 World Cup squad with a knee injury.
France were rewarded for a flurry of late attacks with goals from second-half substitutes Matteo Guendouzi and Bradley Barcola.
Deschamps reflected: “I’ve got a positive analysis — four goals, it’s been a while since we did that.
“We were serious and diligent, with a lot of enthusiasm.”
The Nations League champions in 2021 are in Brussels to face Belgium on Monday, with Israel up against Italy in Udine.
