Désiré Doué netted his first senior goals for France in a convincing 3-1 victory over Colombia during a friendly match at Maryland’s Northwest Stadium.
Doué opened the scoring in the first half, followed by Marcus Thuram who added a header just before the break. Doué then scored his second early in the second half, before Jaminton Campaz netted a consolation goal for Colombia.
France made 11 changes from their previous match, a 2-1 win against Brazil, with N’Golo Kante captaining the team on his 35th birthday, demonstrating their squad depth at the home of the Washington Commanders.
Colombia, fresh off a loss to Croatia in Orlando, finished third in World Cup qualifying behind Argentina and Ecuador, currently sitting 13th in FIFA rankings, but struggled against the French second string.
The South Americans created an early chance when left-back Johan Mojica delivered a fine cross that was narrowly missed by France’s centre-back Lucas Hernández.
However, France took charge with two goals in 12 minutes before halftime. Doué capitalized on a loose ball outside the penalty area, firing a low shot that deflected off Daniel Muñoz for the opener in the 29th minute.
Kante made a crucial block to deny James Rodríguez, before France doubled their lead four minutes later. Monaco’s Maghnes Akliouche provided a superb cross from the right for Thuram to leap and score with a powerful header.
Munoz missed a chance from close range after a neat backheel from Rodríguez, while at the other end Thuram’s effort was deflected away from goal. Crystal Palace defender Maxence Lacroix made a crucial tackle on his senior debut for France, preventing Luis Díaz from scoring early in the second half.
France then sealed the match on the counter-attack. Rayan Cherki set up Thuram, whose low cross found Doué at the far post for his second goal in the 56th minute.
Doué, Akliouche, and Warren Zaïre-Emery were substituted shortly after as Randal Kolo Muani, Hugo Ekitike, and Eduardo Camavinga came on. Campaz then pulled one back for Colombia, scoring his first senior international goal with a strike into the post after being set up by Jefferson Lerma.
Kylian Mbappé, closing in on Olivier Giroud’s record for France, and Michael Olise replaced Thuram and Cherki shortly after. Mbappé’s attempt went wide and his shot was cleared off the line as he aimed to equal Giroud’s record of 57 goals for France in stoppage time.