Finland beat world champions France for the first time in their history, in an international friendly in Paris.
FIFA’s 55th ranked team got off to a flying start with goals from Marcus Forss and debutant Omni Valakari, within the space of three minutes, to put Finland 2-0 up in the first half.
Manager Didier Deschamps selected a strong line up, with Paul Pogba, Lucas Digne and experienced striker Olivier Giroud all starting the game for Les Bleus. However, the Fins, who have now won all of their last three matches secured a famous win.
An error by Tottenham’s Moussa Sissoko was punished by Brentford striker Forss, who slotted in calmly to open the scoring before Cyprus based Valakari doubled the lead for Finland with a stunning effort.
Strikers Antoine Griezmann and Anthony Martial were introduced alongside N’Golo Kante in an effort to rescue the day but it was Finland who were more organised and came out of the game with a clean sheet.
The Finnish players’ celebration at the blast of the whistle at full-time was evident what the victory meant to them, and by extension, to the rest of Finland following the game from home.
Friendly results, Wednesday 11 November
- Turkey 3-3 Croatia
- Bulgaria 3-0 Gibraltar
- Denmark 2-0 Sweden
- San Marino 0-3 Latvia
- Romania 5-3 Belarus
- Montenegro 0-0 Kazakhstan
- Malta 3-0 Liechtenstein
- Lithuania 2-1 Faroe Islands
- Albania 2-1 Kosovo
- Greece 2-1 Cyprus
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