By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe scored the 56th goal of his international career to move within one of Olivier Giroud’s record for Les Bleus.
France faced Brazil in a friendly at the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts on Thursday night in the first of two matches planned for both sides during the final international break before World Cup in June.
And Mbappe struck in the first half to give his side the lead, latching onto a through ball from Ousmane Dembele and racing clean through before lifting a lovely finish over Ederson.
It was Mbappe’s 56th goal on his 95th appearance for his country – only Giroud with 57 goals in 137 caps has scored more for the two-time world champions.
The 27-year-old was substituted for Marcus Thuram in the 66th minute having had two further half chances, dragging two shots wide in the first half.
Nevertheless, Les Bleus fought to a narrow 2-1 win in the end, with a goal from Bremer not enough for Brazil to fight back late on.
The forward, who made his France debut at the age of 18 in 2017, has been recovering from a knee injury having last started for Real Madrid on 22 February.
On Wednesday he denied reports, his injury had been misdiagnosed by a Real medical team member mistakenly examining his wrong knee.
And Mbappe will likely get the chance to equal his country’s all-time scoring record in another friendly on 29 March, with Les Bleus taking on Colombia in Maryland.