Bayern star also scores
Victory against Ukraine: France secures World Cup ticket
Updated 11/13/2025 – 10:44 p.mReading time: 3 minutes
France struggled for a long time against Ukraine. In the end, the favorite prevailed and celebrated their participation in the World Cup.
France has secured participation in the 2026 World Cup. After a 4-0 win against Ukraine, the French lead their qualifying group with six points with one match day to go and can no longer be pushed out of the top position, which entitles them to direct participation in the tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
The “Equipe Tricolore” struggled for a long time against bravely defending Ukrainians. In the second half, only a converted penalty from star striker Kylian Mbappé (55th minute) brought salvation. Bayern’s Michael Olise broke the visitors’ resistance with his goal to make it 2-0 in the 76th minute, so that Mbappé with his second goal (83rd) and Hugo Ekitiké (88th) were able to clear things up in the end.
This success was overshadowed by the memories of November 13, 2015, when 132 people were killed by Islamist terrorists in the French capital and over 350 others were injured.
Mbappé had previously announced that the team wanted to “pay tribute to those affected, be it during the day, during the game, by trying to put a smile on the faces of the people who come to the stadium – even if we know it is not a happy day.” Accordingly, the teams commemorated the victims with a minute’s silence before kick-off, and the players also wore special pins as a sign of solidarity.
And the stands were also in mourning. The game had lasted less than 15 minutes when the fans in the Boulogne stands turned on their cell phone lights and commemorated the victims with a choreography in the blue, white and red national colors. “To our 132 stars from November 13th,” read one banner – and the entire stadium sang the “Marseillaise.”
Long before the game, numerous commemorative events took place in Paris on Thursday. Around midday, President Emmanuel Macron laid a wreath at the Stade de France. The arena in which France played against the German national team on November 13th was one of the targets.
“The pain remains. In solidarity, France remembers the dead, the injured, the families and relatives,” Macron wrote on social media. At that time, three men tried to get into the stadium and blow themselves up. Their plan failed; They detonated their explosives outside and killed 63-year-old Manuel Dias.