France trounce Israel 4-1 in Nations League clash

Nkunku’s first goal for France, nearly 10 months after his last cap, brings Les Bleus within one point of Italy.

BUDAPEST:

Christopher Nkunku celebrated his return to the France team with a goal in a 4-1 victory over Israel in the Nations League as Les Bleus edged closer to A2 Group leaders Italy on Thursday.

Nkunku's maiden goal for France, almost 10 months after his last cap, helped France to six points from three games, one behind Italy who were held to a 2-2 home draw by Belgium.

The Chelsea forward struck midway through the first half after Omri Gandelman had cancelled out Eduardo Camavinga's early opener before Matteo Guendouzi and Bradley Barcola sealed the win in the closing stages.

France were without regular captain Kylian Mbappe, who skipped the double header with Israel and Belgium, away on Monday, while fit to play with Real Madrid.

"It's always good to win. The atmosphere around the squad is not exactly pleasant," coach Didier Deschamps said, referring to the criticism Mbappe faced for missing the games and a poor performance against Italy last month.

"It's not perfect, we're in a transition period but there are some good things, with players who have qualities and now need to confirm," the coach added, four days before Les Bleus' trip to Brussels.

It was the first France game since forward Antoine Griezmann announced his retirement from international football last week.

Michael Olise started and was expected to fill the void, but the 22-year-old, despite some good moves and obvious technical qualities, showed his inexperience.

Camavinga opened the scoring after seven minutes with a curled low shot, benefiting from a handling error by Omri Glazer as France reaped the rewards of a good start.

Gandelman, however, headed home from Oscar Gloukh's long pass to equalise in the 24th minute.

It took Les Bleus four minutes to regain the advantage as Nkunku found the back of the net with a low shot after ghosting past two defenders.

Guendouzi wrapped up the win with a low shot from just outside the box and Barcola added another in the penultimate minute with a neat curling strike.

Israel have been playing their home matches in Hungary for security reasons amid the country's war in Gaza.