All-star French football team loses to Sweden without Zlatan

CAIRO – 10 June 2017: The French national football team lost 2-1 against Sweden on Friday in a qualifying match for the FIFA World Cup which will take place in Russia in 2018.

Despite fielding a strong team with many top international stars such as Paul Pogba, Antoine Griezman, Dimitri Payet and Olivier Giroud, France did not manage to achieve victory. Arsenal striker Giroud scored the first goal of the game and the last for France in the 37th minute.

Meanwhile, Sweden’s top football star Zlatan Ibrahimovic did not participate in the game due to injury, but his fellow citizens lead the team to victory with Jimmy Durmaz scoring the equalizing goal, followed by Ola Toivonen’s winning shot in the 90th minute of the game.

Sweden’s victory has placed the Nordic nation in first place of Group A with 13 points after six qualifying games, equalizing with France with the same number of games played and points.

In the same qualifying group, the Dutch national team won its match against Luxembourg today in a strong 5-0 victory.

Bayern Munich forward Arjen Robbin scored the Netherlands’ first goal at the 21st minute of the game, with Wesley Sneijder adding the second. Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum and Quincy Promes also scored for the Dutch, with Vincent Janssen securing the fifth goal from a penalty kick.

The Netherlands are currently in third place in Group A with 10 points.