France boss Didier Deschamps has urged his players to believe that they can still qualify for the World Cup next summer following the 2-0 defeat to Ukraine in the first-leg playoff.
Les Bleus face an uphill task in their bid to book their ticket to Brazil having slumped to their first-ever defeat to the Eastern Europeans, as Roman Zozulya fired the hosts into the lead, before Andriy Yarmolenko doubled the advantage from the penalty spot.
The 1998 winners welcome Mykhaylo Fomenko's men to the French capital for the second leg on Tuesday, and Deschamps says that it is essential his team buy into the prospect that a comeback is possible.
"It was a fight. We had a lot of opportunities," he told TF1. "But the first goal gave them more strength. We made a mistake on the penalty.
"Obviously this is a very bad result for us. But we have to believe. The best position is that of Ukraine who have it today but we still have 90 minutes with us at home."
Deschamps's men will need to negotiate the second leg without the presence of Laurent Koscielny, who was dismissed in the dying embers, along with Oleksandr Kucher who received two bookings in the space of a minute.
Shane Callaghan
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