The two strikers had started the international week with the same individual objective: the captain's armband, left vacant by Hugo Lloris and finally recovered, unsurprisingly, by the 24-year-old Parisian.

They finish it with the same smile, that of the winners and that of the scorers, in a stadium of France full and conquered by its two strong men.

The captaincy is a reward that you devour yourself... But the success is shared, and this large victory against the Dutch is probably precisely what this duo needed to walk at the same step towards the future.

Three months after the frustrating World Cup final against Argentina and fifteen months before the Euro in Germany (June 14-July 14, 2024), Didier Deschamps knows that he will not have an ego problem to manage on the road to the qualifiers when his two soldiers will divide the scoreboard.

Antoine Griezmann launched the France team to its victory over the Netherlands in Saint-Denis, March 24, 2023 © Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP

Because the ogre Mbappé (two goals) and the voracious Griezmann (one goal) each had their plate, Friday night, with a full menu.

Mbappe overtakes Benzema

The first course was served from the second minute, by an altruistic "Kyks". The pass for "Grizi" was meticulous, the Atlético Madrid player did not deprive himself to convert it with his left foot.

The playmaker with pink-dyed hair then immediately turned to his neo-captain to enjoy this aperitif heralding a feast.

As for Mbappe, he was quickly able to quench his thirst on a deep ball from Aurélien Tchouaméni, carefully avoided by Randal Kolo Muani, to line up Jasper Cillessen at the first post (21st). At the end of the match, he created a double all alone (88th), offering himself a 38th goal in Blue, one more than Karim Benzema.

Meanwhile, Griezmann had also been able to come out with his secret recipe, a well-brushed free kick and finally taken victoriously by Dayot Upamecano (8th), after a fumble by Cillessen.

For the N.7 of the Blues, it is a rebirth. He who had accepted in Qatar a role of midfielder more hardworking than striker, he who remained on an improbable drought of sixteen matches without scoring in the France team, has finally found the flavor of the nets that tremble.

Kylian Mbappé scores his 2nd personal goal, the fourth of the France team against the Netherlands in Saint-Denis, March 24, 2023 © FRANCK FIFE / AFP

This 43rd goal in this jersey comes on the evening of his 118th selection - including 75 in a row without missing a single match! - and allows him to resume his march forward in third place in the scoring rankings, a table where Mbappé chases him at phenomenal speed.

"The same goal"

Three days after his 32nd birthday, Griezmann offers himself a nice consolation prize with this goal and this performance still just, in the wake of his sparkling World Cup.

The native of Mâcon, who imagined receiving the armband after the international retirements of his glorious teammates, Lloris and Raphaël Varane, will he leave the disappointment behind him?

"From what I see of Antoine, of Kylian, everyone has the same goal. Antoine is vice-captain he has an important role as he has always had. There is not the slightest concern about that," Deschamps said at a press conference on Thursday.

Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappé, the two leaders of the Blues scored three goals in the Netherlands, on March 24, 2023 at the Stade de France © Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP

If there was the slightest problem, it probably dissipated over Saint-Denis in this successful evening, where the two friends shone together, even if they will probably never be the best friends in the world.

As a good unifying leader, Mbappé had also taken care to highlight, Thursday, the role of Griezmann for the France group. "He was perhaps the most important player of the Didier Deschamps era. But I will not be his superior. He has experience in the France team that I do not have, "insisted the N.10.

With the experience of Griezmann and the statistics of Mbappe, the Blues seem in any case well launched towards the Euro.

© 2023 AFP