France are seeing the World Cup trophy slip out of their hands as Argentina have taken a two-goal lead already in the finals of the tournament at the Lusail Stadium.
The first half has been nothing short of a disasterclass for Didier Deschamps’ men who have struggled to get any sort of foothold in the game, with Argentina dominating the proceedings from the get-go.
Lionel Messi put the Albicelste in front with a brilliant penalty after Ousmane Dembele fouled Angel Di Maria in the box. Ten minutes later, the Juventus winger got on the scoresheet himself, putting the final touches on a stunning team move involving Messi and Alexis Mac Allister.
Having seen his team ship two goals before half-time, France manager Deschamps acted to change things up and made two changes already in the 40th minute. The first of the substitutions saw Barcelona winger Dembele getting hooked off for Randal Kolo Muani.
Dembele had endured a torrid first half until his substitution. Apart from giving away the penalty, the 25-year-old struggled to cope with the pressure on the left side from Argentina as Di Maria and Nicolas Tagliafico dominated the flank
He also failed to offer any sort of attacking output, although that can be said of all of his teammates. Nevertheless, Dembele was sacrificed for Kolo Muani, while Olivier Giroud was also subbed off, making way for Marcus Thuram.