PARIS — Injury-hit France were held to a 2-2 draw by Iceland in 2026 World Cup qualifying on Monday, while Germany won in Northern Ireland with a Nick Woltemade goal and Belgium beat Wales to stand on the brink of a place at next year’s finals.
France, World Cup winners in 2018 and runners-up in 2022, were without a host of players in Reykjavik including captain Kylian Mbappe and Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele, both out injured.
They fell behind to a Victor Palsson goal late in the first half, but Christopher Nkunku equalised just after the hour mark.
Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta then gave Les Bleus the lead midway through the second half, getting his first senior international goal on his first start.
However, Iceland were back level almost from the restart as Kristian Hlynsson of FC Twente ran through unchallenged to make it 2-2.
France could have clinched qualification for next year’s tournament in North America with a win in Reykjavik combined with Ukraine failing to beat Azerbaijan at the same time.
But while they were dropping points, Ukraine were beating Azerbaijan 2-1 in the Polish city of Krakow — Oleksiy Hutsuliak and Ruslan Malinovskiy scored for Ukraine either side of a Vitaliy Mykolenko own goal.
France are nevertheless three points clear at the top of Group D with two games remaining next month, and a win at home to second-placed Ukraine in Paris will wrap up top spot.
“We totally controlled the game. Iceland had two shots on target and scored two goals,” France coach Didier Deschamps told TFI.
“But we have another point on the board and next month will be decisive.”
Germany have now recorded three consecutive victories in Group A after beginning their campaign with a defeat in Slovakia last month.
Newcastle United forward Woltemade headed in the only goal of the game as Germany beat Northern Ireland 1-0 in Belfast, and Julian Nagelsmann’s team are top of the group with nine points.
“It was a very important three points for us,” Woltemade told Germany’s RTL, adding that “in this atmosphere and in a bit of an ugly game, you have to win and we did well”.
