France 2-0 Republic of Ireland

Giroud struck from close range after his initial header had been kept out

Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud scored his 31st goal for France as Didier Deschamps' side prepared for the 2018 World Cup with a comfortable victory against the Republic of Ireland.

Giroud bundled in the opener just before half-time after his initial header had been blocked on the line.

Reported Liverpool target Nabil Fekir made it 2-0 with a curled finish.

France have two more World Cup warm-up matches remaining - against Italy on Friday and the USA on 9 June.

Les Blues open their World Cup campaign against Australia on 16 June before also playing Peru (21 June) and Denmark (26 June) in Group C.

Giroud form bodes well for France

It is 20 years since France won the World Cup for the first and only time but they head into this tournament with a squad they will feel confident of taking them far in Russia.

Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele headline the crop of young talent Deschamps has in his squad, while Giroud has the experience that will also be important.

But the 31-year-old former Arsenal striker is heading to the World Cup in decent form.

The striker finished the Premier League season with three goals in six games for Chelsea while his latest international strike took him level with Zinedine Zidane in France's all-time top scorer list. Only David Trezeguet (34), Michel Platini (41) and Thierry Henry (51) have scored more.

France's team against the Republic of Ireland was an experimental one. Giroud played as the lone striker with Mbappe and Fekir in support in a 4-3-2-1 and it certainly proved effective against Martin O'Neill's side as France finished with 78% possession and 17 shots on goal compared to just two for the visitors.

Antoine Griezmann and Dembele are likely to come in when Deschamps chooses his strongest team in Russia but this performance means the France boss will know he has an effective alternative option available to him.

O'Neill's experimental side fail to trouble France

For the Republic of Ireland, this game marked a return to the scene of one of the most controversial moments in their footballing history.

At the Stade de France in November 2009, a handball by Thierry Henry was not spotted by the officials as France secured an aggregate play-off victory that denied the visitors a place 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The Republic of Ireland gave France a scare when the two sides met at Euro 2016, Robbie Brady giving them an early lead before Griezmann scored a second-half double.

O'Neill's side never looked like causing an upset in this game, although the former Leicester manager had, like France, used the game as a chance to experiment with his line-up. Blackburn Rovers full-back Derrick Williams was handed his international debut while Bradford's Colin Doyle started in goal.

Doyle had a moment to forget with France's second goal, succeeding only in helping the ball over the line when he flapped at Fekir's strike but that was the only real negative for the Republic of Ireland against a side that is among the favourites to win this summer's World Cup.