France beat Brazil in friendly

France started their preparations for the World Cup in convincing fashion as Kylian Mbappe inspired them to a 2-1 friendly win over Brazil despite being reduced to 10 men early in the second half on Thursday. Captain Mbappe, showing ‌no sign of the knee problems that had troubled him in recent weeks, opened the scoring in the first half, while Hugo Ekitike found the net after Dayot Upamecano was sent off 10 minutes into the second half. Gleison Bremer pulled one goal back for Brazil. While the French defence, without the injured Jules Kounde and William Saliba, was shaky at times, their attacking firepower was too much to handle for Brazil, who lacked creativity in the midfield. Mbappe now has 56 goals with France and is ⁠just one shy of Olivier Giroud’s record, which he could at least equal when Didier Deschamps’s side take on Colombia in another friendly in Landover, Maryland, on Sunday. "For us, it was not a friendly. Playing Brazil is a great opportunity to see where we stand tactically and technically. It’s great to play matches like this. I said before the game we should not draw conclusions from it, so I’m not going to be hypocritical and treat it like a World Cup final," said Mbappe. "We showed creativity and remained solid. We’re moving forward. All I want is to be on the pitch and play — every kid dreams of playing a France-Brazil match. I know it’s a privilege.” France carried an early threat on the break against a Brazil side intent on pushing forward. Didier Deschamps’s team struck first in the ‌32nd minute ⁠through Mbappe after a sharp transition. Aurelien Tchouameni won back possession and fed Ousmane Dembele, who released Mbappe into space down the right and the France captain accelerated clear of Leo Pereira before calmly lifting a right-footed finish over Ederson. The goal capped a lively opening spell in which France looked dangerous whenever they found space, Mbappe’s pace stretching Brazil’s back line and forcing them on to the back foot. Brazil threatened a quick response when Vinicius ⁠Jr. capitalised on a loose ball and slipped Gabriel Martinelli through, but the Arsenal forward’s effort from the edge of the area curled just wide of the target. Luiz Henrique replaced Raphina at halftime and made an instant impact, testing Mike Maignan with a powerful shot from just inside the box as ⁠Brazil looked more dangerous early in the second half. Ancelotti shrugs off Neymar chants Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti played down fans' chants for Neymar, who was not selected for the squad, after their 2‑1 defeat to France in a warm‑up game in Boston on Thursday, saying ‌the focus should remain on the players involved. Neymar was left out after the 34-year-old missed a recent Santos FC match with muscle fatigue - a game Ancelotti had planned to watch in person as part of his assessment ahead of naming the squad. "Right now we have to talk about those ⁠who are here, who played, who gave everything, who showed character, who worked very hard. And I am satisfied," Ancelotti told reporters. "I think Raphinha played very well. He had some muscle discomfort at the end of the first half and we had to substitute him, but he had many opportunities and very good movement off the ball. "And Vini (Vinicius Jr.) always tries; he always makes the difference. A striker cannot always score, but the work done by both ‌of them ⁠was good." Neymar, Brazil's all-time leading scorer with 79 goals, has not played for the national team since suffering a serious knee injury in October 2023 and has struggled to maintain a consistent run of matches since returning to Santos last year.