Staff Reporter.
Kylian Mbappe scored his first hat-trick for France as the reigning world champions secured their place at next year’s World Cup in Qatar in style by thrashing Kazakhstan.
Coach Didier Deschamps fielded a 3-4-3 formation with Kingsley Coman deployed as a right wing-back and the attack-minded strategy produced an avalanche of goals as France’s natural talent shone.
“The aim was to qualify, but we did it in style too and you could see the enjoyment the players got from playing together and how they shared things, notably the forwards,” Deschamps told French television.
“It’s good, everyone got their slice of the cake. It’s a result that rewards everything we did well in both halves. The risk at halftime is to drop off a bit, but we continued, that’s also about respecting your opponent.”
He completed the rout with a late fourth.
Karim Benzema got two after the break. Adrien Rabiot and Antoine Griezmann, with a penalty, were the other scorers.
Mbappe’s hat-trick was the first by a France player in a competitive international since Dominique Rocheteau in 1985.
His first came in the sixth minute when he turned in an early cut-back before he finished a Coman cross from close range and headed in a third.
Mbappe, who was instrumental in winning the 2018 tournament in Russia, added: “We wanted to give ourselves a chance to defend our title. Even for those who have played in it and won it, it’s an ultimate dream to play in a World Cup.
“The fans enjoyed it, so did we. We respected the game and our opponents. We wanted to keep going right to the end.”
? ? Two new tickets booked for Qatar 2022!
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— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) November 13, 2021
Victory guarantees France will top Group D as they have 15 points, four clear of second-place Finland with one game remaining.