Mbappé scores but limps off late in France’s World Cup qualifying win. Germany gets boost

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 on Friday.

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.

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This story has been corrected to show that Germany, Slovakia and Northern Ireland all have six points.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer