The French women’s team, shaken up throughout the game, came back to defeat Ireland on Tuesday in Dublin (2-1) for their first qualification match for the 2027 World Cup, thanks to the decisive entry of Melvine Malard.
With this success, the Bleues lead their group before facing Poland on Saturday, who drew with the Netherlands (2-2), but the performance in Dublin was not always up to par.
There is a twenty-place difference in the Fifa rankings between the Bleues (7th) and the Irish (27th), but this gap was not evident on Tuesday night.
Grace Geyoro’s teammates – led by captain Grace Geyoro due to the absence of Griedge Mbock – waited until the last twenty minutes to get into their game, the first of their six qualification matches for the 2027 World Cup.
To see Brazil in a year and a half, they will need to bring as much intensity, coordination, forward movement, and precision in front of the goal as they did in the last twenty minutes.
– Two shots, two goals –
The Bleues waited until the 70th minute to get their first shot on target. However, thanks to a winning coaching decision by Laurent Bonadei, they showed great efficiency: two shots on target, two goals.
On her first ball, French forward from Manchester United, Melvine Malard, managed to dribble past Katie McCabe and Megan Connolly in the area to equalize (1-1, 71st minute). She then provided the cross for Marie-Antoinette Katoto (78th minute) to score the winning goal.
Eight minutes later, the Reunionese player turned the game around after a series of blocked shots (2-1, 79th minute) with a lot of luck on her side. She had already scored a hat-trick against Belgium in a friendly match in June.
In contrast, French goalkeeper Constance Picaud – playing in place of Pauline Peyraud-Magnin – had to make several crucial saves throughout the match, including a free-kick from the Irish (4th minute) and a shot on goal (11th minute). She was also vital for the Bleues with a decisive intervention (60th minute).
Despite their efforts, Picaud could not stop Irish captain Katie McCabe from opening the scoring (1-0, 12th minute), set up perfectly by Emily Murphy.
Towards the end of the match, the Bleues were under pressure in the final minutes, but they resisted on different corners, thanks in part to Marie-Antoinette Katoto’s goal-saving header (90+3), which was as valuable as a goal.
On a smaller field (64 meters in width instead of 68 meters) and without several key players (Mbock, Cascarino, Bacha), the Bleues showed a true team spirit. The substitutes made a difference, and there was a positive atmosphere within the group, according to Laurent Bonadei, who expressed his pride in the players.
In just 45 minutes, and especially in the last twenty minutes, his speech changed. At halftime, he was “not satisfied” due to an “unacceptable” first half, visibly annoyed.
