France took the lead in the eighth minute when Antoine Griezmann’s free-kick was only half cleared to the right-back Benjamin Pavard, who crossed to Kylian Mbappé at the back post. His volley was stopped by Salvatore Sirigu’s legs but Samuel Umtiti was free to sweep the ball home.
Italy found it difficult to deal with France’s speed and after the marauding left-back Lucas Hernández was brought down, Griezmann stepped up to make it 2-0 from the penalty spot after 29 minutes.
Mario Balotelli played a part in bringing Italy back into the game seven minutes later when he fired a free-kick at Hugo Lloris. The goalkeeper obligingly patted the ball down to Italy’s captain, Leo Bonucci, who tucked away the chance.
France’s third goal in the 63rd minute was again a demonstration of their pace. Mbappé burst through the middle before being tackled on the edge of the area just as he was lining up a shot. Unfortunately for Italy Ousmane Dembélé was on hand to clip deftly into the far corner.
England’s opening World Cup opponents Tunisia drew 2-2 with Turkey, who had Cenk Tosun sent off after scoring the opening goal. The Everton forward converted a penalty and was then dismissed after remonstrating with supporters behind the dugout in Geneva. He appeared to be angry at something he had seen in the stands and had to be held back by team-mates.
Anice Badri’s stunning goal and Ferjani Sassi’s close-range finish put Tunisiain front but Caglar Soyuncu equalised in injury time for Turkey.
It was Tunisia’s second 2-2 draw of the week, after they came back from 2-0 down against Portugal on Monday.
Earlier on Friday Edin Visca scored a hat-trick to give Bosnia and Herzegovina a 3-1 victory over South Korea in Jeonju on Friday.
The Asian side, who face Germany, Mexico and Sweden in Group F at the World Cup, lacked accuracy in attack and looked fragile with a three-man defence at the back. Their head coach, Shin Tae-yong, will cut three players from his squad before they head to Austria to make their final preparations for the finals.
The Guardian
