Host France became the first side to progress to the knock-out stages of Euro 2016 courtesy of a 2-0 victory over Albania on Wednesday night at the Stade Velodrome, Marseille.
Didier Deschamps made a huge statement by dropping both Paul Pogba and Antoine Griezmann to the bench in an attempt to add more impetus to his side, but the French were flat for most of the first half.
A couple of miscued Olivier Giroud headers were the closest Les Bleus came to a goal before the interval as they struggled to break down a resilient and well-organised Albanian outfit.
Anthony Martial shone in patches but proved the fall guy at the break as Deschamps seemed to accept his side had not been at the races by introducing Pogba for the Manchester United forward.
The Juventus man’s arrival immediately help spark the game into life in the opening exchanges of the second half.
Bacary Sagna bundled the ball against his own post before Pogba found himself on the end of flowing French move but could only direct his effort over the crossbar.
Dimitri Payet proved to be far more effective on the left flank rather than a central role as the game wore on and Griezmann was called upon with 20 minutes remaining as France went in search for a winner.
But, when Giroud’s measured header came back off the woodwork, the writing seemed to be on the wall. It did not appear to be France’s night.
However, Griezmann popped up in the 89th minute to save France’s blushes and book his country’s place in the next round.
Adil Rami collected the ball on the right and whipped in a superb ball that was met by Griezmann who made no mistake in heading home to make it 1-0.
It was a cruel blow for Albania and it got even worse in the final minute of injury time when they were caught by a lightning French break that ended with Payet firing home to seal a hard fought 2-0 win for the hosts as they booked their place in the last 16.
The host will now battle Switzerland to decide who tops Group A.
