France eases off-field woes ahead of World Cup with comfortable 2-0 against Austria in Nations League

By Alasdair Howorth, CNN

Updated 1044 GMT (1844 HKT) September 23, 2022

Olivier Giroud is now only two goals off Thierry Henry's record of 51 goals for France.

(CNN)After a torrid few months in the French national team camp, there were plenty of positives to take away from France's 2-0 win over Austria in Nations League Group A on Thursday.

A powerful strike from Kylian Mbappé and a trademark header from Olivier Giroud were enough to see Didier Deschamps' side leapfrog Austria at the bottom of its Nations League group as the world champion seeks to avoid relegation in the competition after a dismal campaign.In front of a raucous Stade de France crowd, Les Bleus dominated from start to finish.Mbappé had a goal disallowed for offside in the second minute and Aurélien Tchouaméni came close twice in the first half. The Real Madrid midfielder had a long-range strike fly just over the bar in the 12th minute, and just after the half-hour mark, Tchouaméni came close to scoring one of the goals of the year when his bicycle kick was superbly tipped onto the bar by Austrian debutant goalkeeper Patrick Pentz. Read MoreThe home side continued to dominate after the break, with Mbappé in particular looking at his sensational best — and it was the Paris Saint-Germain forward who broke the deadlock in the 56th minute with a powerful drive from just inside the box following a French counterattack.France has over 14 players out with injury, just two months from the start of the World Cup.Just 10 minutes later, Giroud sealed the victory with a cute glancing header off an Antoine Griezmann cross. The goal makes Giroud France's oldest ever goalscorer at 35 years and 357 days, as well as taking the Milan forward's tally just two behind Thierry