Désiré Doué scored his first senior international goals to inspire France to a convincing 3-1 victory over Colombia, sending a strong signal to their FIFA World Cup rivals.
The two sides approached the friendly in Landover, Maryland, quite differently.
Colombia head coach Néstor Lorenzo made only minor adjustments to his lineup following the defeat to Croatia, while France boss Didier Deschamps opted for a completely rotated squad after the win over Brazil. Backed by a large Colombian crowd at Northwest Stadium, Los Cafeteros nearly opened the scoring early on, but Richard Ríos’ long-range effort narrowly missed the target.France gradually took control and made their dominance count in the 29th minute. Doué, the 20-year-old Paris Saint-Germain forward, struck from the edge of the box, with a deflection wrong-footing goalkeeper Álvaro Montero. Just before the break, Marcus Thuram doubled the advantage with a powerful header from Maghnes Akliouche’s cross, marking his first international goal since late 2023. Both Thuram and Doué came close to adding more before halftime, while Colombia also threatened through Daniel Muñoz.
At the interval, Colombia made three substitutions in an attempt to shift the momentum. They nearly found a way back early in the second half when Luis Díaz capitalized on a misplaced pass, but debutant Maxence Lacroix produced a crucial defensive intervention. Moments later, France punished their opponents on the counterattack, with Thuram setting up Doué, who calmly finished to extend the lead.
Colombia pulled one back in the closing stages through substitute Jaminton Campaz, who scored his first international goal. Despite late pressure, they were unable to mount a comeback and suffered another defeat.
France, meanwhile, extended their unbeaten run to nine matches, with several squad players making a strong case ahead of the World Cup squad selection. Kylian Mbappé also featured late on, although his goal was ruled out for offside.
