November 19, (THEWILL) – The French national team, made history on Saturday night, demolishing Gibraltar 14-0 in 2024 Euro qualifier match. The massive victory set a new record for the largest margin of victory in a European Championship qualifier, breaking Germany’s previous record set in 2006.
The onslaught began early, as an own goal put France up 1-0 after just 3 minutes. Things went from bad to worse for Gibraltar, when defender Ethan Santos, was shown a straight red card in the 18th minute for a dangerous tackle on French youngster Warren Zaire-Emery, who was making his senior debut at just 17 years old and had scored France’s second goal.
With Gibraltar down to 10 men, France turned on the after burners. Star striker Kylian Mbappe recorded a hat trick, while Kingsley Coman netted twice. When young Zaire-Emery got in on the act for that second goal, he became France’s second youngest goal scorer ever at 17 years and 255 days old.
By half-time, Les Bleus led 7-0. The pace hardly slowed in the second half, as France continued piling on the goals. Olivier Giroud came off the bench to notch a brace, helping France eclipse Germany’s prior record of 13-0 set back in 2006.
The massive result sees France strengthen their position atop Group B in qualifying for Euro 2024, which will be held in Germany. After thrashing Gibraltar, France look poised to secure a top seed for the tournament next summer. The French side will be among the favourites to capture the European title on German soil.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
