Soccer-Olise, Mbappe shine as France tame Ukraine in qualifying debut

Soccer Football - World Cup - UEFA Qualifiers - Group D - Ukraine v France - Wroclaw Stadium, Wroclaw, Poland - September 5, 2025 France's Michael Olise in action with Ukraine's Yehor Yarmoliuk REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

WROCLAW (Reuters) -France struck early through Michael Olise and sealed the points with a late Kylian Mbappe breakaway to beat Ukraine 2-0 on Friday and open their World Cup qualifying campaign in style.

Mbappe's 82nd-minute strike, set up by his Real Madrid teammate Aurelien Tchouameni at the end of a rapid counter attack, lifted the forward to 51 international goals, drawing him level with Thierry Henry in second place on France’s all-time scoring list behind Olivier Giroud (57).