LIVE: Ukraine vs France

31′ The hosts’ sustained spell of possession ends as Yaremchuk tries an elaborate flick as the ball is played into his feet with his back to goal under pressure, but his touch is heavy and goes behind for a goal-kick.

29′ Ukraine are working the ball around safely now, taking their time in possession and probing for openings in the France defence.

27′ CLOSE! Pogba pings the ball forward from deep and Martial gets his head to it in the box, knocking down for Griezmann, who latches onto it and steers a half-volley into the ground and across goal, but it’s just wide of the far post!

25′ Coman is found in space on the right and flashes the ball across the penalty area, but nobody can get a touch on it and Griezmann simply has to retrieve and recycle it on the other side.

23′ France are seeing plenty of the ball but are struggling to create anything meaningful with it. They’ve been pretty blunt from open play so far.

21′ Pogba cuts inside from the left channel and has a pop at goal from distance, but he doesn’t catch it with any conviction and slices the effort well wide.

19′ Ukraine counter down their right again and it’s crossed to Yaremchuk on the left side of the box, but the forward can’t connect cleanly with the ball and can only volley awkwardly over.

17′ Ukraine are refusing to let France dictate the game and are posing a threat on the counter when they win the ball in deep areas.

15′ It seems Deschamps has set his side out in a 4-3-3 tonight, with Rabiot playing as part of a midfield three rather than his usual shuttler role from the left. Coman and Griezmann flank Martial in attack.

13′ Coman dances past a couple of challenges and tries to slip Martial into the box down the left, but the Manchester United striker’s touch is a little loose and it gets away from him.

11′ SAVE! Pogba rises highest to meet Griezmann’s floated left-wing corner into the middle, but can’t steer it either side of Pyatov and the Ukraine goalkeeper makes the save!

9′ Ukraine manage to get back on the ball and use the width well as Matvyenko finds Tymchyk with a lovely switch and the right wing-back feeds Yarmolenko, who crosses into the centre for Tsygankov, but the forward can’t direct his header and it bounces harmlessly wide.

6′ France have settled down and are starting to take control of the game, pinning Ukraine back into their own third. 

3′ Yarmolenko gets right underneath the ball as he swipes at his shot from distance, sending it high and wide.

1′ We’re underway in Kiev!

These two sides last met in March, drawing 1-1 at the Stade de France as Griezmann’s opening goal was cancelled out by Sydorchuk, who starts on the bench tonight.

Intriguingly, of France’s four World Cup qualifying fixtures so far, Les Bleus have drawn both of their matches on home soil, but have won both away games.

France boss Didier Deschamps makes the same number of changes after the disappointing 1-1 draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina in midweek, bringing Dubois, Tchouameni, Rabiot, Coman and Martial into the side. Veretout and Benzema drop to the bench, Thomas Lemar and Kylian Mbappe are out injured and Jules Kounde is suspended after his sending-off last time out.

Ukraine head coach Oleksandr Petrakov keeps just six of the starting 11 that drew 2-2 with Kazakhstan last time out. Pyatov, Matvyenko, Zabarnyi, Mykolenko, Yarmolenko and Yaremchuk keep their spots amidst five changes, with Oleksandr Zinchenko a notable absentee through suspension.

France substitutes: Matteo Guendouzi, Raphael Varane, Karim Benzema, Mike Maignan, Moussa Diaby, Theo Hernandez, Steve Mandanda, Clement Lenglet, Jordan Veretout, Nordi Mukiele.

France (4-3-3): Hugo Lloris; Leo Dubois, Kurt Zouma, Presnel Kimpembe, Lucas Digne; Paul Pogba, Aurelien Tchouameni, Adrien Rabiot; Antoine Griezmann, Anthony Martial, Kingsley Coman.

Ukraine substitutes: Oleksandr Karavaev, Eduard Sobol, Dmytro Riznky, Evgeniy Makarenko, Oleksandr Zubkov, Denys Boyko, Viktor Korniienko, Oleksandr Syrota, Serhiy Sydorchuk, Taras Kacharaba, Ruslan Malinovskiy, Danylo Sikan.

Ukraine (3-4-3): Andriy Pyatov; Illia Zabarnyi, Sergey Krivtsov, Mykola Matvyenko; Oleksandr Tymchyk, Taras Stepanenko, Mykola Shaparenko, Vitalii Mykolenko; Andriy Yarmolenko, Roman Yaremchuk, Viktor Tsygankov.

France top Group D with eight points after four games, while Ukraine are also unbeaten, but are third after four successive draws.

Hello and welcome to our LIVE coverage of the World Cup qualifying fixture between Ukraine and France at the Kiev Olympic Stadium.

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