International Friendly
France 4-1 Scotland
Tuesday, 17 October, 2023
Decathlon Arena Stade Pierre Mauroy, Villeneuve d'Ascq

Scorers

France: Pavard (16, 24), Mbappe (40), Coman (70); Scotland: Gilmour (11).

Team News

Steve Clarke opted to make eight changes to his starting line-up for the head-to-head with last year's World Cup finalists.

There was a first cap for goalkeeper Liam Kelly, while Under-21 regular Max Johnston was drafted into the squad in place of injured duo Andy Robertson and Aaron Hickey.

As It Happened

Kick-off was delayed to allow a bumper crowd additional time to make their way into the stadium, but the disrupted preparations didn't seem to have an adverse impact on the Scots, who started brightly.

Liam Cooper's audacious, intelligent flick - to get him out of trouble against the pressing Ousmane Dembele - was an early highlight.

The vocal travelling Scotland supporters really did have something to celebrate on 11 minutes - when Billy Gilmour opened the scoring with his first senior goal for Scotland.

The diminutive midfielder capitalised on a slack French pass and kept his cool to curl a beautiful shot into the far corner of the net before being mobbed by his appreciative team-mates.

The hosts were sparked into life and quickly levelled, with Benjamin Pavard nodding in from a front-post run. 

Pavard picked up where he left off to quick edge the French in front after an excellent run and cross from Kylian Mbappe.

Mbappe soon found the net himself - making no mistake from the penalty spot after Liam Cooper was adjudged to have pulled Olivier Giroud's shirt.

Zander Clark was introduced at half-time in place of fellow debutant Kelly.

Che Adams was covering every blade for little reward. He did break free of his man to chip the ball into the box, but Greg Taylor was just beaten to it by Theo Fernandez. 

Adams and Liam Cooper were replaced by Jacob Brown and John Souttar respectively as Steve Clarke shuffled the pack.

Kingsley Coman and Marcus Thuram were introduced by France at the same time and the former didn't waste any time getting on the scoresheet. 

Thuram's cross from the left found Antoine Griezmann, whose volley cannoned back off the bar from close range into the path of Coman, who displayed real technique to keep the ball down and find the target.

Brown deserved better at the other end, with a sharp spin and strike from Nathan Patterson's pass to force a fingertip save from Mike Maignan.

Ryan Christie and Stuart Armstrong were next to be called upon - with Gilmour and Kenny McLean withdrawn.

Maignan was twice called into action within a minute as Scotland upped the ante - with Armstrong and Brown unfortunate to see volleys and headers turned away.

It was a tough test for Scotland, but exactly the kind Steve Clarke was looking for as the squad push themselves out of any comfort zone ahead of next summer's Euros.

Next Up

We round off our qualification campaign with a double-header next month.

First up is a trip to Georgia on Thursday, November 16, before we play host to Norway on Sunday, November 19 at a sold-out Hampden Park. 

Teams

France: Maignan, Clauss, Konate (Lukeba 87), T. Hernandez, Pavard, Camavinga, Tchouameni (Kamara 76), Griezmann (Fofana 76), Dembele (Coman 65), Mbappe (Kolo Muani 87), Giroud (Thuram 65). Unused substitutes: Samba, Areola, Gusto, Rabiot, Todibo, L. Hernandez.

Scotland: Kelly (Clark 46), Patterson (McGinn 88), Hendry, McKenna, Cooper (Souttar 65), Taylor, Gilmour (Armstrong 76), McLean (Christie 76), McTominay, Ferguson, Adams (Brown 65). Unused substitutes: Gunn, McGregor, Dykes, Porteous, Johnston.