The world champions failed to have a shot on target in a 2-0 defeat to Turkey, the first time in a decade years they have hit that mark
France may be the world champions but they hit a 10-year low in failing to muster a single shot on target in a one-sided Euro 2020 qualifying defeat to Turkey on Saturday.
Turkey won 2-0 thanks to first-half strikes from Kaan Ayhan and Cengiz Under, though the margin does not tell the entire story of the performance from a very poor France side.
Despite racking up 559 passes of the ball, compared to Turkey’s 322, Didier Deschamps’ side could not muster a single shot on target, and had just four efforts overall as they were well corralled by Turkey when they did attack.
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Turkey were far more clinical, producing 11 shots, six of which were on target, in the win that sent them three points clear at the top of Group H.
Making the statistic even more remarkable was the fact that nine of the 11 players who started in France’s 2018 World Cup final win over Croatia also started in Konya.
The poor performance on the team level also, rather predictably, offered up some very poor showings on the individual level, and Kylian Mbappe may have had the worst day of the bunch.
The 20-year-old has been nothing short of spectacular over the last 18 months for both club and country having won the World Cup and Ligue 1.
The PSG star netted 33 times in league play this season, winning the French top flight’s scoring title and helping PSG to a 16-point final margin in the league table.
But on Saturday he struggled to keep hold of the ball, losing possession to Turkey 22 times, a personal worst while playing for his country.
And it wasn’t as though the rest of the side picked up the slack in any way.
In fact, the normally stingy defense also had a rather rough night, allowing two goals in the first half for the first time since 2015.
The side should have a slightly easier time of things when they return to the pitch on Tuesday to take on Andorra.
The minnows sit bottom of Group H and have yet to pick up a single point through three matches.