France Rally To Avoid Iceland Shock As Mbappe, Barcola Net For Les Blues

Last Updated:September 10, 2025, 07:43 IST

Andri Gudjohnsen put Iceland ahead, before Kylian Mbappe and Bradley Barcola found the net for France in the second half of the game to post a come-from-behind win.

France's Kylian Mbappe, right, is tackled by Iceland's Sverrir Ingason during a World Cup Group D qualifying soccer match between France and Iceland at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

France overturned a goal deficit to get the better of Iceland in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers on Wednesday in a 2-1 win for the two-time World Cup winners at the Parc des Princes.

Andri Gudjohnsen put Iceland ahead, before Kylian Mbappe and Bradley Barcola found the net for France in the second half of the game to post a come-from-behind win.

Gudjohnsen, the son of former Barcelona star Eidur, put his nation ahead in the 21st minute of the game as Iceland took a shock lead that they managed to take into the break.

However, France got their reward in the second period of the game as Mbappe converted from the spot and Barcola bagged his side’s second of the day before Aurelian Tchouameni

“It is very positive because we have taken six points but it was a difficult game tonight against a team who defended very deep," said France coach Didier Deschamps.

“We were punished for our only mistake. We created lots of chances but we are capable of doing better."

“I think my striker pulled the shirt just a little bit," admitted Iceland coach Arnar Gunnlaugsson.

“It was a little bit soft. I think if you do the slow-motion times 10, you can obviously see something so maybe the referee was right. Maybe."

Tchouameni was then shown a red card, and Gudjohnsen was controversially denied an equaliser following a VAR check, as the home side held on to their 2-0 win over Ukraine in their opening qualifier last Friday.

Despite not being at their best, the 2018 World Cup winners and 2022 runners-up are already in a strong position in Group D with a maximum of six points.

Iceland is second in the group with three points, while Ukraine and Azerbaijan each have one point after drawing 1-1 in Baku.

Les Bleus, who have qualified for every World Cup since 1994, next host Azerbaijan and visit Iceland in October.

The group winners qualify directly for next year’s 48-team tournament in North America, while the runners-up advance to a play-off phase.

The build-up to this game was dominated by a falling-out between the France team and PSG after Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue, who both play for the European champions, suffered injuries in the win over Ukraine that will keep them out for several weeks.

Dembele had come off the bench in that game, while Doue started. His place in the line-up here was taken by Marcus Thuram.

Thuram came close for France as they started brightly, but they fell behind just before the midway point in the first half as Iceland capitalised on Olise’s error.

The Bayern Munich star inexplicably passed the ball inside his own area straight to Gudjohnsen, who needed no second invitation to fire in.

The 23-year-old London-born striker, who has just signed for Blackburn Rovers, is one of the sons of former Chelsea and Barcelona star Eidur and was playing alongside his brother Daniel up front.

France then struggled to break down a packed Icelandic defence but were gifted a chance when Thuram went down in the box just before the interval.

The referee awarded a penalty after reviewing the images, and Mbappe converted from the spot to make it 52 goals from 92 caps.

The hosts were expected to dominate the game in the second half, and Olise crashed a shot off the bar before Mbappe latched onto Tchouameni’s ball over the top on 62 minutes, advanced, and squared for Barcola to tap in.

But then Tchouameni was dismissed, his yellow card for crashing his studs into Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson’s shin being upgraded to red on review.

With the extra man, Iceland thought they had snatched a point when Andri Gudjohnsen bundled in Hakon Haraldsson’s cross at the second attempt.

However, the goal was ruled out following another review, with the striker adjudged to have pulled Ibrahima Konate’s shirt.

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