Mbappe leads the charge as France beat Azerbaijan

PARIS :Kylian Mbappe played saviour as France closed in on qualification for next year's World Cup with a lacklustre 3-0 home win over Azerbaijan in their European Group D qualifier on Friday.

The 26-year-old forward opened the scoring on the stroke of halftime and set up Adrien Rabiot for the second, with substitute Florian Thauvin adding the third to put Les Bleus on nine points from three games and give Didier Deschamps’ side a chance to secure qualification on Monday when they travel to Iceland.

France were missing several key players, with Paris St Germain forwards Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue and Bradley Barcola all sidelined through injury, but former PSG duo Mbappe and Rabiot got the job done despite an appalling first half.

Azerbaijan, who next play Ukraine, remain bottom of the table with one point.