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France, without Mbappe, failed to beat Iceland in World Cup qualifier

14 October 2025 00:51 (UTC +04:00)

The French national football team tied 2-2 with Iceland in a 2026 World Cup qualifying match in Reykjavik, APA reports.

Christopher Nkunku (63rd minute) and Jean-Philippe Mateta (68) scored for France. Viktor Paulsson (39) and Christian Hlinsson (70) scored for Iceland.

France captain Kylian Mbappé missed the match. The striker left the national team camp after suffering an ankle injury in the 3-0 home defeat to Azerbaijan. He is the second-highest scorer in the history of the French national team.

After four rounds, the French team leads the group with 10 points. They are followed by Ukraine (7), Iceland (4), and Azerbaijan (1).

In other matches of the game day, the German national team won away against the Northern Ireland team (1:0), the Slovaks beat the Luxembourgers at home (2:0), the Kosovo national team proved stronger than the Swedes on their away field (1:0), the Belgians defeated the footballers from Wales on their away field (4:2), the Azerbaijanis lost on the road to the Ukrainians (1:2), the Slovenians played a draw with the Swiss team (0:0) in front of their home fans, and the Kazakhs drew on the road with the North Macedonia team (1:1), losing their chance to qualify for the World Cup.

The 2026 World Cup will be held in the United States, Mexico, and Canada from June 11 to July 19.