Mbappe Hits 50 as France Beat Germany 2-0 in Nations League

Mbappe Reaches 50 Goals as France Beat Germany 2-0 for Third Place

Kylian Mbappe reached a major milestone by netting his 50th international goal, helping France claim third place in the UEFA Nations League with a 2-0 victory over hosts Germany in Stuttgart.

The France captain opened the scoring in the 45th minute, calmly finishing off a sharp pass from Real Madrid teammate Aurelien Tchouameni.

Mbappe also assisted the second goal in the 84th minute. After capitalizing on a defensive error from Robin Koch, the forward unselfishly squared the ball to Michael Olise, who tapped into an empty net to seal the result.

VAR Drama and German Misses

Germany had the ball in the net and a penalty awarded — both overturned by VAR.

• Karim Adeyemi was initially awarded a penalty after contact from French keeper Mike Maignan, but the call was reversed, and Adeyemi was booked for simulation.

• Deniz Undav’s goal was ruled out due to a foul by Niclas Fullkrug on Adrien Rabiot in the build-up.

Germany still created numerous chances:

• Adeyemi forced three key saves from Maignan

• Florian Wirtz struck the post

• France hit the post through Marcus Thuram, while Mbappe saw several efforts go wide and forced a brilliant stop from Marc-André ter Stegen.

Post-Match Reaction

Germany captain Joshua Kimmich voiced his frustration:

“We should have been leading 3-0 after six minutes. Then we went into the break a goal behind. We made too many mistakes and gave them what they wanted.”

France boss Didier Deschamps praised his goalkeeper:

“Mike [Maignan] was a fantastic last line of defence. He kept us in it early on. The first-half lead allowed us to grow into the game.”

What’s Next

France finish third in the 2025 Nations League. Germany’s winless run extends to three matches following their semi-final defeat to Portugal.

The Nations League Final between Spain and Portugal kicks off later on Sunday (20:00 BST) in Munich.