81′ Chumacero is taken off with less than 10 minutes to go and Wayar is brought on for cap number 14.
80′ France are just toiling at the moment. They are threatening to score but the end product is lacking as Ben Yedder has an audacious attempt saved and Griezmann loses his footing in the box.
F. Mendy
L. Digne
79′ Digne can be pleased with his shift down the left today – he sent in a number of good crosses. Mendy – Ferland, not Benjamin – is brought on to see out the game.
77′ Vaca has barely been on the field for a minute and he is already trying his luck. This is not the worst attempt, but Areola is able to watch it sail over his crossbar.
76′ Griezmann is played clean through on goal but the offside flag quickly goes up. The France striker probably knew that as he goes for a cheeky lob over Lampe and is denied.
75′ Deschamps would no doubt like a third goal before full-time to take into the back-to-back away qualifiers over the next nine days. Bolivia have been pretty dogged but at the same time it could easily have been 5-0 or 6-0 if not for Lampe.
H. Vaca
R. Castro
73′ Villegas turns to his bench for the third time by bringing on Vaca for Castro. Bolivia have 17 minutes to find a route back into the match.
72′ COMAN THWARTED BY LAMPE! Coman turns his opponent inside out and gets a powerful shot on target from 10 yards. Lampe makes another save with his legs at his near post – he has been superb today.
70′ The home side are starting to build a bit of pressure as they win another corner out of Justiniano. Bolivia will be happy enough with their efforts today, having restricted France to just a couple of goals so far.
68′ SHOT! France are starting to rack up the shots on target now. Coman, only on the field for a minute or so, gets an effort away from range that Lampe pushes into the air and collects at the second attempt.
R. Fernández
E. Saavedra
66′ Fernandez replaces Saavedra in Bolivia’s second alteration of the match.
B. Matuidi
T. NDombèlé
66′ Ndombele is the latest France player to make way, replaced by Matuidi in this double change.
K. Coman
T. Lemar
66′ Lemar has put in a good shift today. He is replaced by Coman with around 25 minutes to go.
65′ Dubois pulls the ball back for the lively Ben Yedder and the substitute attacker has his shot blocked by Diego Bejarano. It is worked to Thauvin, though, and his shot is a little better, forcing Lampe into a save at his front post.
64′ Bolivia have been the better side over the last five minutes. The ball is played into the path of Diego Bejarano, who cannot pick out a team-mate with his right-sided cross.
63′ More than an hour has been played at the Stade de la Beaujoire but Deschamps is holding off from making his next batch of changes – assuming he does further tinker, that is. France have been in control but Bolivia had a decent opportunity through Justiniano – had he taken that it would have been game on.
61′ BIG CHANCE FOR BOLIVIA! A fine passing move from the visitors nearly culminates in a goal. Chumacero has plenty of room down the right to send the ball into the middle and Justiniano meets the cross, only to guide it away from the target. He had to be testing Areola at the very least.
59′ Ben Yedder tries to weave his way through on goal but his route is blocked. Digne sends in another good cross from the left and Thauvin heads the ball towards the six-yard box, where Jusino is well positioned to hook it behind for a corner.
57′ RARE SAVE FOR AREOLA! Ben Yedder fouls Castro and Bolivia have a chance to test Areola for the first time today. Justiniano’s deflected free-kick looks to be on target, but Areola gets down to his right to gather with both hands.
55′ Two big opportunities have passed France by in the early stages of the second half. Bolivia have not quite been put to bed just yet, but their poor scoring record suggests that two goals should be enough for the hosts.
53′ ANOTHER GREAT SAVE! Lampe is having a fine game in the Bolivia goal. Lemar heads the ball into the ground and it looks as though France will have a third goal to celebrate, but Lampe sticks out his leg and makes the save.
52′ BEN YEDDER DENIED! Bolivia are having to deal with wave after wave of attacks. Umtiti launches the ball forward, Pogba knocks it down and Ben Yedder should be finishing off the move with his shot from eight yards. Lampe produces another good save after making himself big.
51′ The second half has continued pretty much from where the first one left off, with France dominating possession and looking good value for a third goal. Lampe reads the danger well as he charges out of his box and heads the ball clear.
50′ Griezmann has been involved in 14 goals for France since the start of the 2018 World Cup (nine goals, five assists) – at least four more than any other Les Blues player during the same period.
48′ Ben Yedder is shoved off the ball towards the right-hand touchline and Griezmann has the chance to swing in another delivery from the free-kick. Varane is the closest player to it in the six-yard box but Lampe makes a pretty routine catch down low.
46′ RESTART! France get us back up and running at the Stade de la Beaujoire, looking to build on their 2-0 lead from the first half.
F. Saucedo
S. Galindo
46′ Galindo is on for Saucedo in Bolivia’s only half-time change.
L. Dubois
B. Pavard
46′ Pavard makes way for Dubois, who is making his senior debut.
W. Ben Yedder
K. Mbappé
46′ Ben Yedder is the player to come on for the injured Mbappe for the start of the second half.
The only worry for Deschamps at the midway stage will be the fact that Mbappe picked up an injury towards the end of the first half and does not look in a fit state to play any further part today. Giroud and Coman are a couple of options to bring on from the bench, although Deschamps does also have the option of tinkering with his formation and moving Griezmann up top on his own. Bolivia, who had zero attempts in the first half, may also change things at the break as they have been constantly exposed down their left.
France take a comfortable, and a thoroughly deserved, two-goal lead into half-time in this international friendly in Nantes. Lemar opened the scoring five minutes in with a lob over Lampe after being picked out by Griezmann, and he returned the favour by playing a big part in Griezmann’s strike two minutes before the interval. Bolivia offered next to nothing in the opening 45 minutes and relied on Lampe to produce a fine save to keep out another Griezmann effort.
45′ + 1′ HALF-TIME: FRANCE 2-0 BOLIVIA
45′ This is a concern for Deschamps as Mbappe, who has had a pretty quiet first half, has picked up a knock. The physios are on but there is only a minute to go until half-time so he will surely play no further part.
44′ Lemar will not be credited with the assist as the ball hit a Bolivia player in the box before Griezmann flicked it up and fired it home.
A. Griezmann
Goal
43′ GOOOOAAALLL!!! FRANCE 2-0 BOLIVIA! Lemar takes over corner duties from Griezmann. He sends it in towards the front post and it is only half-cleared. Lemar keeps the ball in play with a sublime first touch, lifts it into the middle and Griezmann is able to fire it past Lampe.
42′ France are constantly looking to get at Bolivia down their opponents’ left. The ball is worked into the path of Griezmann in a central position but the move breaks down as the visitors form a brick wall.
40′ Lampe is OK to continue following some treatment. That was a very good save from the Bolivia keeper – and a brave one, too.
39′ GOOD SAVE! Digne’s cross is over Mbappe but Griezmann times his run brilliantly and makes good contact with his header eight yards out. Lampe throws himself to his right and does well to keep out the header, albeit at a cost as he collided with the post.
37′ France have got to be careful that they do not invite too much pressure on themselves. Deschamps’ side have barely got out of second gear in the second quarter of the match.
36′ Ndombele is caught by Saavedra, leading to a short stoppage in play.
35′ The hosts are really enjoying themselves down the right-hand side – something Bolivia boss Villegas will have to look at before the second half. Thauvin crosses from that flank but it has too much on it for Lemar to meet and the visitors have a goal-kick.
33′ After a dominant start to the match, France have lost all of their momentum over the last 15 minutes. The World champions are still on top, though they no longer look as though they are going to score every time they get the ball forward.
31′ Pogba and Griezmann stand over the free-kick from a good 35 yards out. Pogba wins the right to take it on but he can only send the ball high into the stands – poor effort.
A. Jusino
Yellow Card
29′ Jusino is shown the first yellow card of the contest for grabbing hold of Mbappe to prevent him racing onto Pogba’s throughball.
28′ CHANCE FOR THAUVIN! Thauvin slips at just the wrong moment, having done the hard work, and can only pick out the side-netting with his shot.
27′ France have dropped off quite a bit over the last 10 minutes or so. Bolivia are being allowed to carry the ball forward, but they are not really doing a lot with it in the final third.
26′ Lemar now has four goals for France in 17 appearances. Each of his goals have come via his left foot and they have all come on home soil. Furthermore, two of his last three goals have been assisted by Griezmann.
24′ Griezmann swings in another corner from the right which is once again easily dealt with by Lampe.
23′ Having managed to get their breath back, France are now back on top in Nantes. A long ball is aimed towards Digne but it is well defended. Pogba and Ndombele are dropping into their own half to collect possession.
21′ A rare Bolivia attack ends with Chumacero attempting to get a cross into the area, but it is blocked for a throw. The visitors have finally managed to settle over the last couple of minutes.
19′ This is far too easy for France. They are attacking down the left, right and through the middle and look good value for at least a couple more goals. This latest cross from the right is cut out before Griezmann can convert. The corner is collected by Lampe.
17′ SAVE! Pogba spreads a delightful pass out to Varane, who cuts inside and gets a shot on target that Lampe is equal to down low. A teasing cross from the right then evades everyone as it goes right through the box.
16′ Had Umtiti made clean contact with his header, which he should have given he was basically unmarked, it would have been 2-0 to France. This is a very one-sided match.
15′ OFF THE LINE! Griezmann and Lemar exchange passes down the left and the former wins his side a corner. It is Griezmann who swings it into a dangerous zone seven yards from goal, where Umtiti is waiting to pounce. The ball hits his shoulder and Castro is well positioned on the line to keep it out.
13′ Mbappe has the ball at his feet in the box and that usually spells bad news for the opposition. A good recovery challenge knocks him off his stride, though, and Bolivia are able to clear their lines – for now!
11′ Griezmann tries to slot the ball through for Mbappe, who he is playing just off today, but there is a little too much pace on the pass and Lampe is able to gather in the Bolivia goal.
9′ France are being allowed to knock the ball around with ease. Bolivia have barely got the ball out of their own half of the field so far. Thauvin carries the ball down the right but he runs out of space to charge into.
7′ Bolivia boss Villegas will be really concerned after conceding so early on. A long ball over the top is knocked into the path of Griezmann by Thauvin, but the offside flag goes up against the latter. France are in the mood for goals, it seems.
A. Griezmann
Assist
5′ Griezmann showed brilliant vision to pick out Lemar pretty much unmarked towards the back post. He could have played a simple ball down the line but he justified his decision to take on the trickier pass.
T. Lemar
Goal
5′ GOOOOAAAALLL!!! FRANCE 1-0 BOLIVIA! It has taken less than five minutes for France to make the breakthrough in Nantes. Griezmann fizzes the ball into the feet of Lemar, who slightly miscontrols it with his first touch and then lifts it up and over Lampe with his second. Superb finish!
4′ BLOCK! Thauvin knocks the ball into the path of Griezmann but Jusino just about manages to wrap his foot around it to clear behind for a corner. The corner drops to Umtiti inside the box and the centre-back’s shot is blocked.
2′ France are knocking the ball around in a patient manner in these early stages. Ndombele tries to turn 40 yards from goal and is fouled by Moreno to win the first free-kick of the game.
1′ KICK-OFF! Following a minute’s applause in memory of former Arsenal and Atletico Madrid striker Jose Antonio Reyes, who tragically died in a car accident on Saturday, Bolivia get this international friendly up and running.
The two teams are now out on the field at the Stade de la Beaujoire and we are moments away from kick-off.
The visiting side have failed to find the net in four of their last five matches, each of those being friendlies. France, by comparison, have scored four goals in back-to-back matches.
Bolivia also make five changes to their starting line-up from the 1-0 loss to Japan on March 26. Marvin Bejarano returns in defence to skipper the side, while Chumacero, Galindo, Saavedra and Moreno are also included from the off. Fernandez and Vaca are among those to drop down to the bench as the visitors look to end their losing run.
Deschamps makes five changes from the 4-0 win over Iceland on March 25. Captain Hugo Lloris is not included in the squad due to his Champions League final involvement with Tottenham on Saturday, while Kante and Giroud drop down to the bench as they were late joining up with their national side after helping Chelsea to Europa League glory. Layvin Kurzawa, also not included in the squad, and Matuidi are the other two players to make way, with Areola, Digne, Ndombele, Thauvin and Lemar all coming into the side.
Bolivia subs: Jose Carrasco, Diego Wayar, Rodrigo Ramallo, Javier Rojas, Mario Cuellar, Roberto Fernandez, Paul Arano, Gilbert Alvarez, Saul Torres, Ruben Cordano, Henry Vaca, Fernando Saucedo.
BOLIVIA (4-4-1-1): Carlos Lampe; Diego Bejarano, Luis Haquin, Adrian Jusino, Marvin Bejarano (c); Alejandro Chumacero, Leonel Justiniano, Samuel Galindo, Erwin Saavedra; Raul Castro; Marcelo Moreno.
France subs: Mike Maignan, N’Golo Kante, Kurt Zouma, Leo Dubois, Blaise Matuidi, Benjamin Lecomte, Ferland Mendy, Clement Lenglet, Wissam Ben Yedder, Olivier Giroud, Kingsley Coman.
FRANCE (4-2-3-1): Alphonse Areola; Benjamin Pavard, Raphael Varane (c), Samuel Umtiti, Lucas Digne; Tanguy Ndombele, Paul Pogba; Florian Thauvin, Antoine Griezmann, Thomas Lemar; Kylian Mbappe.
As for Bolivia, they have less than a fortnight left to prepare for their Copa America opener against tournament hosts Brazil in Sao Paulo. Eduardo Villegas’s side are ranked 63rd in the latest FIFA rankings – 61 places below second-in-the-world France – and they are winless in six matches, most recently losing 1-0 to Japan in March.
World champions France are using this game as preparation for their upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers away to Turkey and Andorra over the next nine days. Didier Deschamps’ men have already won two out of two qualifying matches, against Moldova and Iceland in March, and they have won three in a row overall since losing 2-0 to the Netherlands in a Nations League clash – their only defeat in 15 months.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the international friendly meeting between France and Bolivia at the Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes.
D. Wayar
A. Chumacero