Mbappé’s France beats Ukraine to start World Cup qualifying

By Canadian Press on September 5, 2025.

GENEVA (AP) — Kylian Mbappé was back in World Cup action on Friday, scored again and this time France won.

France beat Ukraine 2-0 to open their qualifying group for the 2026 World Cup. It was Les Bleus’ and Mbappé’s first game in the competition since his hat trick in that epic loss to Lionel Messi and Argentina in the 2022 final when they were defending champions.

Mbappé used pace and skill to elude Ukraine defender Illia Zabarnyi in the 82nd minute to extend a lead earned in the 10th by Michael Olise.

Mbappé has never played at a World Cup that Italy qualified for, and the four-time champion got an essential 5-0 home win over Estonia seeking to end its absence from the biggest stage since 2014.

Italy avoided losing more ground to group leader Norway, which did not play on Friday, though it took until a 20th goal attempt and 58 minutes to break the deadlock through a Moise Kean header. In the same group, Israel won at Moldova 4-0.

Switzerland and Greece got off to fast starts to their qualifying campaigns, racing to four-goal leads at halftime.

Switzerland ended as a 4-0 winner over Kosovo and Greece beat Belarus 5-1 after 17-year-old Kostas Karetsas took less than three minutes to score in his World Cup qualifying debut.

Sweden was twice pegged back in a 2-2 draw at Slovenia — which leveled for the second time in the 90th — while leaving Liverpool’s record new signing Aleksander Isak on the bench after his delayed start to the season.

Croatia, a beaten finalist and semifinalist at the past two World Cups, won at the Faeroe Islands by just 1-0 for a third straight win. The group-leading Czech Republic won at Montenegro 2-0.

In France’s group, Iceland won at home to Azerbaijan 5-0.

Denmark was held to 0-0 at home by Scotland in the group that Greece now leads.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Graham Dunbar, The Associated Press