After a much-discussed game, France managed to quieten things down a bit with a 3–1 win over Northern Ireland in a friendly on Monday evening.
They came into it off the back of a 2-1 defeat to Ivory Coast, which had sparked quite a bit of debate, so there was a clear desire to put things right in front of their fans in Lille before heading into the 2026 World Cup.
Northern Ireland sat very deep from the start, and France pretty much camped in their half for long spells, knocking the ball around and trying to find a way through. Chances started to come, and after around 20 minutes Mbappé even had a goal ruled out for offside following Doué’s involvement in the build-up.
The pressure kept building, though, and the breakthrough finally came just before half-time. Doué did well down the left, cut it back to the edge of the box, Dembélé’s shot was blocked, and Olise was in the right place to tuck away the rebound.
Northern Ireland actually responded quite well and had a goal ruled out just before the break for a foul in the build-up. But France doubled their lead early in the second half, with Olise scoring again on 49 minutes.
To their credit, Northern Ireland didn’t fold and pulled one back on 63 minutes when Shea Charles found space down the left, got the better of Upamecano, and set up Patrick Kelly.
With all the usual substitutions breaking up the rhythm a bit, the game slowed down, but Olise stayed sharp. The Bayern Munich winger wrapped up his hat-trick on 82 minutes, cutting inside from the right and curling in a really tidy finish from outside the box.
France now move on to the 2026 World Cup, where they’ll face Senegal, Iraq and Norway in the group stage.
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