REYKJAVIK (Reuters) -France’s perfect record in their World Cup qualifying campaign ended as they were held to a 2-2 draw away to Iceland who got a late equaliser in an entertaining Group D clash on Monday.
Jean-Philippe Mateta scored his first goal for Les Bleus to put them 2-1 ahead on his second cap after Christopher Nkunku had equalised for the visitors following Victor Palsson’s opener but Kristian Hlynsson salvaged a point for Iceland.
France remain top with 10 points from four games, three ahead of Ukraine, who beat Azerbaijan 2-1 on Monday.
Les Bleus face Ukraine in Paris on November 13 in what could prove a decisive fixture in the race to qualify for next year’s World Cup in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
"Iceland had two shots on target and scored twice, but we didn’t do enough in the first half," said France coach Didier Deschamps. "We then did what we had to but what’s frustrating is the way we conceded the second goal.
"We’d done the hard part and then switched off — that shouldn’t happen to us. We’ll have to settle for that."
France started solidly despite being ravaged by injuries and playing without regulars Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue and Bradley Barcola.
They came close to scoring when Michael Olise delivered a perfect corner to the penalty spot where Manu Kone flicked the ball on for Nkunku, whose right-foot volley was brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Elias Olafsson.
Olafsson was at it again moments later, boxing away Olise’s curling free kick, and Iceland made the most of their resilience six minutes before halftime as Palsson turned a low free kick into the back of the net to put the hosts ahead.
France stepped up a gear after the break and were rewarded in the 63rd when Nkunku cut in from the left after being played through by Lucas Digne, evaded Palsson and fired a powerful low shot inside Olafsson’s left-hand post to make it 1-1.
Five minutes later, the visitors went in front after a flowing team move as Eduardo Camavinga found Maghnes Akliouche on the left edge of the box. The midfielder crossed first time for Mateta, who tapped home with his right foot.
However, Iceland hit back swiftly following a quick counter-attack as Hlynsson levelled in the 70th minute to deny Deschamps’s side a fourth straight win.
(Writing by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ken Ferris)
