In a historic performance during the Euro 2024 Qualifiers, France secured an unprecedented 14-0 victory against a 10-man Gibraltar team on Saturday at the Allianz Riviera in Nice. Kylian Mbappe shone with a hat-trick, and newcomer Warren Zaire-Emery marked his debut with a goal.
France’s dominance surpassed Germany’s 13-0 win over San Marino in 2006, making it the French national team’s largest triumph in international football. This match also marked the first instance of a European team scoring 14 goals in a World Cup or European Championship qualifying match.
France manager Didier Deschamps acknowledged the challenge faced by Gibraltar, stating, “Being down to 10, already with 11 it’s complicated for them, but it doesn’t take away the credit for us even if we could have been more efficient, it’s as much about respecting the opponent as scoring goals.”
The scoring spree began with a third-minute own goal by Gibraltar, followed by goals from Marcus Thuram, Zaire-Emery, Mbappe, Jonathan Clauss, Kingsley Coman, and Youssouf Fofana in the first half.
Zaire-Emery, at 17 years old, became the youngest player for France since 1914 and the youngest scorer since that date. However, his debut was cut short when he suffered an ankle injury due to a foul by Gibraltar’s Ethan Santos, resulting in Santos being sent off.
With Gibraltar reduced to 10 men, France’s largest-ever win of 10-0 over Azerbaijan in 1995 became a realistic target. Adrien Rabiot, Coman, and Ousmane Dembele contributed to the goal tally, while Mbappe completed his hat-trick with a remarkable long-range effort.
Mbappe’s three goals moved him into third place on France’s all-time scorers list with 46 goals, trailing only five goals behind Thierry Henry. Substitute Olivier Giroud, France’s all-time top scorer, added two late goals to reach a total of 56 goals for his country.
Having already secured the top spot in the group, France, with seven consecutive wins, will aim to maintain their perfect record in their final group game against Greece on Tuesday.
Deschamps expressed satisfaction with the team’s performance, saying, “Tonight was a perfect night aside from Warren’s injury, but it’s not a big deal, it could have been worse.”
On the other side, Gibraltar, suffering their heaviest-ever loss and yet to score in the qualifying group, will conclude their campaign with a home game against the Netherlands, who secured qualification with a 1-0 win over Ireland on Saturday.