YEKATERINBURG — Kylian Mbappe’s first World Cup goal helped France beat Peru 1-0 in a World Cup Group C game at the Yekaterinburg Arena on Thursday.

With the second consecutive victory in the group stage, France reached the round of 16 while made Peru with two losses lost their hope of progress.

France forward Mbappe broke the deadlock in the 34th minute when he made a right footed shot from very close range.

The 19-year-old became the youngest French goalscorer at a World Cup, aged 19 years and 183 days, surpassing David Trezeguet (20 years and 246 days).

Peru captain Paolo Guerrero nearly scored in the 30th minute through a left-footed shot but his effort was saved by France captain Hugo Lloris.

Peru coach Ricardo Gareca made two replacements after the interval and they pushed forward in search of an equalizer in the second half.

Another great chance came in the 50th minute, but the strike from Pedro Aquino hit the woodwork. During the last 30 minutes of the second half, Peru almost laid siege to the French box and showed more attacking intents but failed to get even.

Gareca praised his team for the attitude after the match.

“I have nothing to reproach my team. We tried, we exploited all our possibilities and we were willing to win. The team gave themselves 100 per cent," he told the press.

FIFA statistics showed that Peru made 10 attempts at the goal throughout the match, while France made 12.

Ball possession was 56 per cent for Peru and 44 percent for France. France coach Didier Deschamps, said he has a great satisfaction with the result and the goal from Mbappe.

He also expressed his respect to Peru, saying "We suffered a lot in the second half. Peru was very good."

A total of 32,789 spectators attended Thursday’s match at the 35,000-seat Yekaterinburg Arena, among which Peruvian fans outnumbered France supporters by a large margin.

Pedro Gallese, Peru’s goalkeeper, expressed his thanks to the Peruvian fans for their great support in Russia.

"We left everything on the field against two very tough opponents. But this does not end here, we are going to close the World Cup with the same attitude," he added.

Peru will next fight against Australia and Denmark will be France’s opponent in the final round of the group stage. — XINHUA