Nine different French players were on the scoresheet as already-qualified France thrashed Gibraltar 14-0 in Nice on Saturday to smash their previous biggest winning margin and take the record for the largest Euro win.
The victory eclipses France’s previous record set during the Euro 96 qualifier against Azerbaijan in September 1995, where they ran out 10-0 winners after scoring seven second-half goals at the Stade Abbe-Deschamps in Auxerre.
The result is also the biggest victory in European Championship qualifying history, overtaking Germany’s 13-0 win over San Marino ahead of Euro 2008.
France were already 3-0 up when Gibraltar were reduced to 10-men on 18 minutes as Ethan Santos, who had put through his own net to give France the lead after three minutes, was dismissed.
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Mbappe scored his first of the evening from the penalty spot after half-an-hour before completing his hat-trick with two goals in the space of eight second-half minutes.
Marcus Thuram, 17-year-old debutant Warren Zaire-Emery, Jonathan Clauss, Youssouf Fofana, Adrien Rabiot and Ousmane Dembele each scored once and Kingsley Coman and Olivier Giroud both netted a brace as France maintained their 100 per cent Euro 2024 qualification record in emphatic style.
Giroud scored twice in the space of three minutes on the stroke of full time and his second, a 91st-minute overhead kick, ensured the result also broke the record for the biggest margin of victory in a European Championship qualifying match.
The win matches the biggest ever victory achieved by France Women, who have twice won 14-0: against Algeria in 1998 and Bulgaria in 2013.
France have already qualified for next summer’s tournament in Germany while Gibraltar sit bottom of Group B having lost all seven qualifiers.
Africa Today News, New York reports that France will conclude their qualifying campaign against Greece on Tuesday while Gibraltar face Netherlands.