RENNES, France (AP) Striker Olivier Giroud led the way with a hat trick as France crushed Paraguay 5-0 in a friendly match on Friday.
Midfielder Moussa Sissoko and forward Antoine Griezmann completed the scoring to give France a morale-boosting win ahead of next Friday’s 2018 World Cup qualifier away to Sweden.
One year ago, Giroud was jeered by his own home fans prior to the European Championship. But he is now firmly first choice and took his internationally tally to 26 goals in 62 games.
The Arsenal center forward struck a neat volley at the back post from Ousmane Dembele’s right-wing cross and then met Dimitri Payet’s cross from the left with a low diving header to make it 2-0 after just 13 minutes.