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| Kevin Gameiro celebrates his second goal of the night with his France and Atlético Madrid strike partner Antoine Griezmann after ending five years in the international wilderness with a bang. |
France produced a scintillating show as they put memories of one of the most painful moments in their football history to one side by crushing Bulgaria 4-1 in a World Cup Group A qualifier.
Les Bleus had not hosted Bulgaria since the infamous qualifier in November 1993 when they conceded a late goal to lose 2-1, a defeat that meant they missed out on a place at the 1994 World Cup in the United States.
The home side trailed again at the Stade deFrance on Friday after conceding an early penalty but bounced back by taking control of the midfield and breaching a porous defence almost at will.
Goals from Kévin Gameiro, Dimitri Payet and Antoine Griezmann put them 3-1 up at the break. Gameiro, stylishly celebrating his first international for five years, then completed the scoring with his second goal of the night in the 59th minute.
France, with four points from two games, are joint top of the group alongside Holland and Sweden. Bulgaria occupy fourth position on three points.
Quincy Promes scored two early goals to setHolland on their way to a 4-1 victory overBelarus and end a miserable run of home form. Davy Klaassen and Vincent Janssen added two more in the second half as the Dutch, who finished third at the last World Cup in Brazil but failed to qualify for Euro 2016, ended an unprecedented run of five successive home defeats stretching back 16 months.
Promes’ opener in the 14th minute marked his first international goal as he hit the ball through the legs of three defenders. He added a second 15 minutes later with a strong finish from the edge of the penalty area. Belarus threatened with two good chances before the break and then scored straight after it with Sergei Kornilenko’s strong run setting up Aleksey Rios for a close-range finish.
But the Dutch quickly restored their two-goal advantage in the 54th minute as Klaassen tapped home the rebound after Belarus had lost possession on the edge of their own area. Janssen struck the woodwork but found the net with a thunderous left-foot shot as the Dutch moved to four points from their opening two qualifiers after a draw in Sweden last month. They host France in Amsterdam on Monday.
Sweden remain unbeaten after their first two matches thanks to Mikael Lustig’s second-half winner in Luxembourg. The Celtic defender’s half-volley from Marcus Berg’s corner was the only goal of the game.
Belgium hammered Bosnia-Herzegovina 4-0 for their second straight World Cup qualifying win under Roberto Martínez, brushing off injuries to lead Europe’s Group H. The European Championship quarter-finalists exposed weaknesses in a Bosnian defence that buckled in the 26th minute when Emir Spahic scored an own-goal.
Two minutes later a gifted touch from Dries Mertens found Eden Hazard, who ran by defenders and chipped the ball past the goalkeeper, Asmir Begovic.
The normally well-composed Bosnians were forced into spells of panic defending and Toby Alderweireld made it 3-0 on the hour. Besieged by five Bosnian players, Romelu Lukaku swung in the fourth.
Belgium are level on points with Greece,who defeated a hard-working Cyprus 2-0 to continue their recovery under their new coach, Michael Skibbe.
Valentin Stocker came off the bench to score in the last minute and give Switzerland a 3-2 win away to Hungary after Adam Szalai had twice equalised for the hosts. Switzerland struggled to get going in the first half without the suspended Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka, who usually dictates the rhythm in midfield. But Haris Seferovic, the striker widely criticised for his performances at Euro 2016 when he failed to score a goal, put the Swiss in front six minutes after half-time, scoring from a rebound after Xherdan Shaqiri’s shot was saved by Peter Gulacsi.
Szalai equalised two minutes later, also from a rebound after his own shot hit the post. Ricardo Rodríguez put Switzerland back in front in the 67th minute, volleying home from Valon Behrami’s lofted cross for his first international goal, only for Szalai to equalise again four minutes later. Switzerland were not to be denied, however, and snatched the points when a long thrown-in was twice headed on and Stocker scored at the far post.
The Swiss went top of Group B with six points from two matches following a game in which all five goals were scored after half-time, while Hungary were left with one point and already look unlikely to make a first World Cup appearance since 1986.
The Faroe Islands are second with four points after their shock 2-0 win in Latvia. Portugal and Latvia have three and Andorra none.
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