This article contains adult content that may be inappropriate for minors. Please confirm that you are 18 years or older to continue. This article contains images or details that some readers may find disturbing. Reader discretion is advised. France defeated Colombia 3-1 at Northwest Stadium in Landover, United States, in a friendly that once again showcased the quality of one of the strongest teams on the planet and perhaps the biggest favorite to win the 2026 World Cup, to be held in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. The best way to demonstrate how powerful Les Bleus are is to remember the players who started the match on the bench: Mbappé, Dembelé, Olise, Ekitiké, or Tchouaméni. They witnessed moments of excellent football from the theoretically substitute players Akliouche, Doué, and Marcus Thuram. There is so much talent in one team. After nearly half an hour of a lackluster performance, France began to exploit gaps in the central area and find spaces behind the defense. After several approaches to the opposing area, the 1-0 came from Doué, who, after a second ball, saw his right-footed shot from the edge of the area take a slight deflection that deceived goalkeeper Álvaro Montero. Unlucky deflection by Muñoz and Doué opens the scoring for 🇫🇷 #sporttvportugal #Friendly Match #France #Colombia pic.twitter.com/6yg8czd Zg Z From that point on, the vice-champions of the world completely took control of the game. The Colombian midfield showed weak forward traction and also revealed inefficacy in defense, highlighted by the subdued performance of Richard Ríos. In a very quick play, built from the back, Marcus Thuram headed in at the 41st minute, benefiting from a blunder by the Colombian goalkeeper. Akliouche 🕹️➡️ Thuram 2-0 for Les Bleus at halftime! #sporttvportugal #FOOTBALLon SPORTTV #Friendly Match #Colombia #France pic.twitter.com/0Vzmjbl RUz At halftime, both the Benfica player and Luis Suárez (also not deserving of special mention) remained in the locker rooms. Colombia made some threats but failed to scare Brice Samba (Maignan and Chevalier did not leave the bench). And again, following a quick transition, Doué scored his second with a right-footed shot, assisted by Thuram (56’), which Montero nearly saved. Doué scores his second for the third of 🇫🇷 #sporttvportugal #FOOTBALLon SPORTTV #Friendly Match #Colombia #France pic.twitter.com/w Cl2WQl JRE At the hour mark, Deschamps made changes: what a luxury it is to bring on Camavinga, Ekitiké, Olise, Mbappé, and Kolo Muani. It is true that France did not score any more goals from that point on and even conceded the 1-3 (Campaz, at 77’), but they continued to dismantle opposing lines and displayed a variety of resources that were almost impossible to stop: sometimes short passes, sometimes breakthrough passes, quick flank variations, and fundamentally a very special treatment of the ball. The overall pace was below what is expected from a World Cup, but these 90 minutes were important to reinforce France's candidacy for the title and also for Portugal to take notes on one of their opponents in Group K: the team that is one of the most powerful in South America was neutralized by France, the same team that had already convincingly defeated Brazil.
Northwest Stadium United States remains central to this story.
Northwest Stadium United States remains central to this story.
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