Désiré Doué scored his first senior goals for France as they swept Colombia aside in a 3-1 friendly win at the Northwest Stadium in Maryland.
Doué gave France a first-half lead and after Marcus Thuram’s towering header before the break, the Paris Saint-Germain forward struck their third early in the second half, with Jaminton Campaz firing Colombia’s consolation.
France made 11 changes after last Thursday’s 2-1 win against Brazil – N’Golo Kante was captain on his 35th birthday – and Didier Deschamps’ squad showcased their strength in depth at the home of NFL side Washington Commanders.
Colombia, who lost 2-1 to Croatia in Orlando on Thursday, finished third in World Cup qualifying behind Argentina and Ecuador and are 13th in FIFA’s rankings, but were no match for a France second string XI.
The South Americans were first to threaten when left-back Johan Mojica’s superb cross was turned narrowly wide of a post by France centre-half Lucas Hernández.
But two goals in 12 minutes before halftime put France in control.
Doué latched on to a loose ball on the edge of the penalty area and his low shot flew into the bottom corner via a deflection off Daniel Muñoz in the 29th minute.
Kante’s brilliant block tackle denied James Rodríguez a shooting chance before France doubled their lead four minutes before halftime.
Monaco midfielder Maghnes Akliouche swung over an excellent cross from the right and Thuram outjumped Colombia’s defence to power home a header.
Munoz fired just wide from eight yards following Rodriguez’s neat backheel and at the other end Thuram’s thumping effort was deflected off target.
Crystal Palace defender Maxence Lacroix’s goal-saving tackle on his full senior debut for France denied Luis Díaz early in the second period before France grabbed their third goal on the counter-attack.
Rayan Cherki sent Thuram racing down the right and the latter’s low cross was swept home at the far post by Doué in the 56th minute.
French trio Doué, Akliouche and Warren Zaïre-Emery were replaced by Randal Kolo Muani, Hugo Ekitike and Eduardo Camavinga before Campaz threw Colombia a lifeline.
Jefferson Lerma slipped Campaz in on the left edge of the area and he lashed home his first senior international goal in off a post with 13 minutes left.
Kylian Mbappé, who edged closer to Olivier Giroud’s all-time scoring record for France against Brazil, and Michael Olise replaced Thuram and Cherki soon after.
Mbappé’s ball across the face of goal was cleared and the Real Madrid forward fired into the side-netting before the offside flag denied him his record-equalling 57th goal for France in stoppage time.
