Karim Benzema's brilliance not enough as Denmark stun France in Nations League

Denmark recovered brilliantly after a fine Karim Benzema goal to beat France 2-1 in the Uefa Nations League on Friday at the Stade de France, the first match at the venue since the chaotic Champions League final.

Benzema scored the opener with a stunning effort, cutting in from the right wing before dummying his way past three defenders to find the back of the net.

Trabzonspor striker Andreas Cornelius cancelled out Benzema's second-half strike with a neat 68th-minute finish and lashed in the winner with two minutes to go.

That meant it was a disappointing night for France who saw both Kylian Mbappe and Raphael Varane come off injured.

"We have players who have played a lot of games this season and we clearly lacked freshness," said France assistant coach Guy Stephan, who added that Mbappe was struggling with a knee knock and Varane had a hamstring problem.

There was a near-full house of 75,833 inside the Stade de France, including 1,400 Danish supporters, but the atmosphere outside the ground ahead of kick-off was calm.

That was in stark contrast to the scenes six days earlier, when serious organisational problems led to fans being unable to get into the stadium while many peaceful supporters were tear-gassed ahead of Real Madrid's 1-0 win over Liverpool.

Netherlands' Memphis Depay scored twice against Belgium. AFP

Meanwhile, the Netherlands registered their first success over Belgium in 25 years as Memphis Depay scored a double in a 4-1 victory in Brussels on Friday.

Steven Bergwijn and Denzel Dumfries netted the other two goals as the Dutch ended Belgium’s almost six-year unbeaten home record.

Belgium coach Roberto Martinez said defeat was “just what the team needed". It was the first home defeat for the Belgians