Mbappé scores but limps off in France's World Cup qualifying win

Paris, Oct. 12: Kylian Mbappé showed little sign of a recent ankle injury as he scored with a slaloming run to help France beat Azerbaijan 3-0 in World Cup qualifying.

He added an assist for France's second goal but did have to limp off late after he had tussled for a ball with an opponent.

France maintained a perfect record after three games, while Germany got back on track by easing to a 4-0 win over Luxembourg.

France dominated Azerbaijan but struggled to create opportunities and it took an individual effort from Mbappé to break the deadlock in first-half stoppage time.

The Real Madrid forward gathered the ball in midfield and dribbled through numerous players before slotting a shot into the bottom right corner.

He has now scored in 10 straight matches for club and country.

Mbappé is France's second all-time scorer with 53 goals and needs five more to overtake Olivier Giroud for the No. 1 spot.

The 26-year-old Mbappé also set up France's second goal with a lofted pass in the area for Adrien Rabiot to head home in the 69th minute.

Mbappé had been a doubt before the match with an injury to his right ankle and he appeared to hurt the same ankle late on, forcing him off in the 83rd minute.

His replacement, late call-up Florian Thauvin, immediately extended France's advantage with his first goal for Les Bleus since scoring on his last international appearance six years ago.

France tops Group D with nine points, five more than Ukraine which scored two late goals to win 5-3 at Iceland after its opponents had fought back from two goals down.

Iceland has three points, with Azerbaijan bottom with just one point.

German recovery

Germany's campaign was thrown into immediate jeopardy when it lost to Slovakia last month. It now tops Group A — albeit only on goal difference — after Joshua Kimmich scored twice against Luxembourg, which played with 10 men for most of the match after defender Dirk Carlson was sent off in the 20th minute.

Northern Ireland beat Slovakia 2-0. Those two teams and Germany all have six points.

Belgium misses

Belgium had 25 attempts on goal but was held to a 0-0 draw against North Macedonia, which tops Group J.

Belgium trails North Macedonia by one point — although it has played a match less. Wales is a point further back.

Kazakhstan is six points behind North Macedonia after crushing Liechtenstein 4-0.

Swiss perfection

Group B leader Switzerland made it three wins out of three, and with no goals conceded, as two second-half goals earned it a 2-0 win at Sweden.

Kosovo remained second, five points below Switzerland, after a 0-0 draw at home to Slovenia.

Similarly in friendlies, Folarin Balogun scored in the 71st minute, offsetting Enner Valencia's first-half goal, and the United States tied Ecuador 1-1 in a friendly on Friday night.Balogun scored for the second straight game, his seventh goal in 20 international appearances, after Tim Weah intercepted a clearance and passed to Tanner Tessmann, who sent the ball wide to Malik Tillman.

Tillman crossed to Balogun, who got in front of Joel Ordóñez and from just inside the 6-yard box redirected the ball in off the inside of the near post.

The 16th-ranked Americans remained with one win in their last nine games against top 25 opponents since March 2024, 2-0 last month over a mostly second-string Japan roster.

"It's good to build momentum," Balogun said. "Disappointed to not get the win but I think we was the better side and there was a lot of positives to take into the next game."

The U.S. plays Australia on Tuesday at Commerce City, Colorado, and faces Paraguay and Uruguay next month, then has only a pair of March friendlies before coach Mauricio Pochettino calls in players for his pre-World Cup training camp.

The Americans had 66% possession and outshot Ecuador 11-8.

"We need to be a little bit more clinical in our last pass in the last third," Pochettino said.

Hernán Galíndez dived to parry Balogun's shot from just inside the penalty area in the eighth minute and pushed Richards' shot off a post in the 26th.

"I felt like we dominated," midfielder Weston McKennie said. "I hope we take confidence. I hope we take the adrenaline from this game, playing forward, rotating the ball, having patience with the ball, and just always trying to be dangerous."

Pochettino returned to Austin, where he coached his first U.S. match on Oct. 12 last year. The Americans are 11-7-1 since he took over.

No. 24 Ecuador, which finished second behind Argentina in South American World Cup qualifying, extended its team-record unbeaten streak to 12 games, including seven draws.

La Tri is at Mexico on Tuesday.

Valencia scored in the 24th minute when he touched a through pass from Jordy Alcívar wide of Chris Richards, broke in on goal with two more touches and shot just past Matt Freese's outstretched right hand and inside the far post. Valencia, who turns 36 next month, is Ecuador's goals leader with 48 in 101 international appearances.

Christian Pulisic, the top U.S. player, didn't start because of a sore ankle and entered in the 73rd minute.

Max Arfsten on the left and Weah on the right started as wing backs. Five days after his birthday, defender Tim Ream became the fourth non-goalkeeper to play for the U.S. at 38 or older after Ed Murphy in 1969, Gordon Bradley in 1973 and Preki Radosavljević in 2001. Ream was joined by Richards and Miles Robinson on the back line.

Left back Antonee Robinson, still regaining fitness following knee surgery in May, did not dress. Forward Alex Zendejas also did not dress and is returning to Mexico's América because of a knee injury, Pochettino said.

Meanwhile, goals from Livano Comenencia and Kenji Gorre led Curacao to a 2-0 win over Jamaica on Friday to take the home side another step closer to its first World Cup appearance.

Comenencia opened the scoring in the 11th minute, and Gorre added a goal in the 68th for the "Blue Stars" that moved them into first place in Group B after three matches of the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers.

Curacao, which until 2010 was part of the Netherlands Antilles, a group of islands with internal autonomy, is coached by Dick Advocaat, who was at the helm of the Netherlands national team for three stints and has managed South Korea, Belgium and Russia.

With the win, Advocaat's squad remains undefeated and has seven points, one more than the Jamaicans, who are in second place and are led by former England's national team coach Steve McLaren.

Trinidad and Tobago, which had a comfortable 3-0 win over Bermuda on Friday, is second with four points.

Dante Sealy in the 10th minute, Tyrese Spicer in the 30th and Koby Henry in the 49th scored goals for the "Soca Warriors."

Bermuda suffered its third loss in a row and is nearly eliminated with no competition points.

Twelve teams, divided into three groups, are vying for three direct spots from regional qualifying for next year's World Cup. The United States, Canada and Mexico have qualified automatically as World Cup co-hosts.

Also on Friday, Virgil Misidjan scored a goal in stoppage time and Suriname salvaged a 1-1 draw against Guatemala to take first place in Group A.

Darwin Lom put the Guatemalans ahead in the 75th minute, but Misidjan's goal in the 94th minute tied the match.

Suriname has five points, and they own the tiebreak over Panama, which got its first win of the final round beating El Salvador 1-0 at home and also has five points.

Jose Fajardo scored in the 55th minute for the Panamanians, who played in their first and only World Cup in Russia in 2018.

 [CAPTION: France's Kylian Mbappe shoots during a World Cup 2026 Group D qualifying soccer match between France and Azerbaijan in Paris. (AP)] (AP)