France lived up to their billing as favourites in World Cup qualifying Group A by beating Holland 1-0 on Monday, thanks to a long-range shot by the Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba and a late save by Hugo Lloris.
And there was a blow for Liverpool when the Dutch midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum injured a hamstring, making the midfielder a major doubt for their Premier League game against Manchester United at Anfield on Monday.
France looked dangerous throughout the match at the Amsterdam Arena, with the world-record signing Pogba orchestrating the midfield, and the pace of the right-back Djibril Sidibe and powerful runs of Moussa Sissoko and Kevin Gameiro proving to be a menace.
While the Holland goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg looked like he could have kept out Pogba’s goal, however, he still kept the score down with dome decent saves in the second half.
Both teams were coming off 4-1 victories on Friday, Holland’s attack making up for the team’s continuing defensive frailties against Belarus while France, Euro 2016 runners-up, had easily overcome Bulgaria as Gameiro scored his first international goals in more than five years.
But the Dutch, already missing the experienced Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben through injury, endured an early setback when Quincy Promes, who scored twice on Friday, limped off and was replaced by Memphis Depay 16 minutes in. Midway through the second half Holland endured a further injury blow when Wijnaldum went to ground clutching his right hamstring.
Without Promes’s pace, the Dutch rarely looked likely to break down the experienced France defence and already looks to be struggling to reach the World Cup with only one team automatically qualifying from each group.
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