Karim Benzema guides France to top spot in Group F

A Karim Benzema brace helped France to a 2-2 draw with Portugal on Wednesday night as they topped Group F.

All France needed was a draw against Portugal in Budapest to confirm the top spot in the ‘group of death’ and a fixture against Switzerland in the Round of 16.

Portugal were still fighting for their tournament status with a potential upset on the cards between Hungary and Germany, but this didn’t deter Didier Deschamps’ men from the task in hand.

Despite going a goal down pretty early on after a controversial penalty decision which Cristiano Ronaldo duly dispatched, France held their nerve and continued to play their usual way and it was down to a certain Karim Benzema to come to the aid of his national team when they needed him the most.

Nobody in that squad needed a goal more than the Real Madrid striker. Throughout the first two games, he looked downbeat and low on confidence after missing a series of chances and also having one ruled out against Germany for offside.

His chance arose right on the stroke of half-time. Kylian Mbappe went down under a challenge from Nelson Semedo and it was France’s turn to strike from the spot.

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Benzema stepped up and emphatically put the penalty home and you could really see that this lifted the forward as right after the break, Paul Pogba played him in behind with a textbook ball and the 33-year-old struck hard and low past Rui Patricio to give Les Bleus the lead.

Ronaldo struck from the spot again on the hour mark but the game would end up finishing as a 2-2 draw, a result which saw both sides through with France finishing top and Portugal third.

Going through was always on the cards for France going into this game but managing to secure the top spot while also getting an injection of confidence into one of their key players was vital for Deschamps, who will be needing goals from Benzema for a deep run in the tournament.

The double from the forward can only give him a wealth of confidence going into the round of 16. It means that France has another player to lean on other than Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann who have usually been the primary source of goals.

France will meet Switzerland in Bucharest on Monday and should they manage to defeat them, it will be either Spain or Croatia taking on the World Champions who have arguably got themselves on the harder side of the draw with the likes of Belgium, Portugal and Italy all potential opponents should they reach the semi-finals.

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