TheCable

Kylian Mbappe scored the winning goal as France defeated Spain 2-1 to win the UEFA Nations League at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium in Milan on Sunday.

France, World Champions, have now replaced Portugal, the inaugural winners, as the new champions of the European tournament held every two years.

A cagey first half failed to live up to expectation with the only real chance falling to Spain’s Pablo Sarabia whose shot was comfortably held by Hugo Lloris, France’s goalkeeper.

The disappointment was doused after the hour with Spain taking the lead through Mikel Oyarzabal on 64 minutes.

The forward latched on to a through ball and planted his shot into the bottom corner with Lloris rooted to the spot.

France then equalized just over a minute later through Benzema, as the Real Madrid striker found the top corner with a curler from the edge of the area.

Mbappe then delivered the winning goal ten minutes before the end, latching on to a through ball from Theo Hernandez that deflected off a defender to dispatch beyond the goalkeeper at the near post. Lloris made a flurry of saves in added time to ensure victory for Les Blues.

The UEFA Nations League triumph is the second trophy for Didier Deschamps since becoming France’s national team head coach in 2012, while Luis Enrique, Spain coach, still awaits his first title.