Kylian Mbappé scored his 51st goal for his country when France thumped Ukraine 2-0 in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier on Friday, 5 September 2025.
Didier Deschamps’ charges dominated the match played at Tarczynski Arena, a neutral location, but failed to convert most of the chances into goals. Ukraine’s goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin made a couple of big saves that kept his side in the thrilling encounter.
Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise netted the first goal for France in the 10th minute of the first half after he was set up perfectly by PSG’s Bradley Barcola. Les Bleus then controlled the tempo of the game and continued creating chances, but Trubin had none of it.
In the 82nd minute of the match, Aurélien Tchouaméni played a defence-splitting pass into Kylian Mbappé’s path, and the Real Madrid forward gave the keeper no chance after dribbling past Ukraine’s last defender.
When Did Kylian Mbappé Score His 50th Goal for France?
Mbappé scored his 50th goal for France when they played against Germany in the Nations League in Stuttgart. France defeated their opponents 2-0. Mbappé has now equaled Thierry Henry’s record after scoring his 51st goal against Ukraine.
He is now six goals away from equalling France’s all-time leading goalscorer, Olivier Giroud, who netted 57 times for his national team.
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How Did France Perform in Their Last Two Matches?
Coming into this match, France thumped Germany 2-0 in the UEFA Nations League third-place playoffs on 8 June 2025. Kylian Mbappe and Michael Olise were on target in that encounter. Mbappe was also credited with an assist after Olise’s goal in the 84th minute.
The French squad also lost 5-4 to Spain in the semifinals of the same tournament on 5 June 2025. World-renowned footballers such as Lamine Yamal, Mbappe, Pedri, and Rayan Cherki were on the scoresheet at the end of the exhilarating showdown.
Before today’s match, Ukraine played two friendly internationals in June. They beat New Zealand 2-1 in their last clash on 11 June. On 7 June, Ukraine lost 4-2 to Canada.
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Ukraine vs France: Last Two Matches
Ukraine went toe-to-toe with the 2022 FIFA World Cup runners-up in their last two clashes. Ukraine and France played a 1-1 draw in a World Cup qualifier on 4 September 2021. Ukraine stunned France when they took the lead in the first half.
In another World Cup qualification match on 24 March 2021, Ukraine also showed their resilience when they levelled the score in the second half.
France took the lead in the first half via Antoine Griezmann’s 19th-minute goal. Ukraine made the score 1-1 in the 57th minute through Serhiy Sydorchuk’s stunning goal.
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