June 04, (THEWILL) – Andreas Cornelius scored twice in the second half as France’s Nations League title defence got off to a shaky start in Paris, with a 2-1 loss to Denmark.
The impressive Karim Benzema gave France the lead at the Stade de France, where he had just won the Champions League with Real Madrid six days before, but they were unable to hold on.
Cornelius, a Trabzonspor striker, volleyed in a magnificent equaliser shortly after coming off the bench, and then blasted in a winner two minutes from time to upset France, who had lost Kylian Mbappe to injury in the first half.
Denmark had a near-perfect qualification campaign for Qatar 2022 and carried that form into this match. The Danes are now tied for first place in Group A1 with Austria, after the Austrians beat Croatia 3-0 earlier on Friday.
In the Qatar FIFA World Cup, Denmark will face France in the group stage again and they auditioned for that fixture adequately by coming out on top in this match of the Nations League.
