France are in serious danger of missing out on the World Cup finals for the first time in two decades after losing 2-0 to Ukraine in Kiev in their play-off first leg on Friday, reports The Age.
Roman Zozulia gave the home side a deserved lead in the 61st minute and Andriy Yarmolenko made it 2-0 from the penalty spot with eight minutes left after Laurent Koscielny had brought down Zozulia inside the area.
Arsenal defender Koscielny was then sent off following a clash with Oleksandr Kucher at the death, before the Ukrainian defender was also dismissed as tensions between the two teams spilled over.
Nevertheless, Ukraine were worthy of their win and, having denied France an away goal, can now consider themselves strong favourites to go through to their second World Cup finals.
France, meanwhile, run the very real risk of missing a major tournament finals for the first time since the 1994 World Cup in the United States unless they can turn the tie around at home next Tuesday.
It was a hostile environment for France, in front of a boisterous home crowd at the 70,000-seat Olympic Stadium in Kiev and in temperatures as low as two degrees.
Read more of this AFP report published by The Age.