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Kylian Mbappe, France put on a show at Gillette Stadium World Cup preview, beating Brazil in star-studded friendly
The victory extended France’s unbeaten streak to eight matches, dating to a June loss to world No. 1 Spain in the Nations League.
Kylian Mbappé electrified a near-capacity crowd at Gillette Stadium with a goal midway through the first half, and Hugo Ekitiké scored against the run of play in the second despite France being down to 10 men as the 2022 World Cup runners-up beat Brazil, 2-1, in a Thursday friendly between two of FIFA’s top-five teams.
The six-match Road to 26 series meant as a leadup to this summer’s men’s World Cup played its best card first, with world No. 3 France and No. 5 Brazil each bringing star-heavy rosters to test the newly installed grass in Foxborough. That included Mbappé, who only returned to Champions League play on March 17 after missing a half-dozen matches for Real Madrid with knee problems.
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France waited until just before the match to announce its lineup, with Mbappé starting and wearing the captain’s armband. He and his team had all the chances in the first half, as Brazil’s offense was limited to the counterattack and didn’t put a shot on target.
The opening goal came in the 32d minute. After forcing a Casemiro turnover at midfield, reigning Ballon D’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé collected and fed ahead to a breaking Mbappé. The speedster let the pass run through, took one touch, and chipped over charging Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson.
The goal was Mbappé’s 56th for France, one off Olivier Giroud’s record.
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Brazil was slow to come out of the locker room for the second half, then dominated play for the first 10 minutes. The pressure on the France goal only magnified when Dayot Upamecano tripped Brazil’s Wesley França as he broke into the penalty area alone, earning a straight red after a review for denying a goal-scoring opportunity.
France’s first chance of the half came in the 65th minute, and it was Ekitiké doubling the lead, capping a counterattack with his own chip over a sliding Ederson.
That was the day for both goal scorers, who were subbed off. The friendly grew chippy from there, with five yellow cards handed out the rest of the way.
Brazil resumed the pressure and pulled within a goal in the 78th, Gleison Bremer tapping home from short range after Casemiro deftly kept a free kick in play along the goal line. The favorites of most of the announced 66,215 nearly pulled off a late equalizer, but a final Bremer pass toward the far post deep in second-half stoppage time was just out of Vinicius Jr.’s reach.
The victory extended France’s unbeaten streak to eight matches, dating to a June loss to world No. 1 Spain in the Nations League. It will play its final group-stage match in this summer’s tournament at Gillette, facing Norway on June 26.
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Brazil has lost three of its last six.
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