France come from behind to beat Sweden

Dimitri Payet proved the matchwinner as France came from one goal behind to record a 2-1 win over Sweden in Friday night's 2018 World Cup qualification match at the Stade de France.

The result means that France have moved to the top of Group A on 10 points, while Sweden, who led early in the second period through Emil Forsberg, have dropped into second position in the section.

France had two chances to make the breakthrough inside the opening 15 minutes, but Payet's long-range strike just missed the crossbar, before Paul Pogba fired wide of the goal from a promising position.

Sweden struggled to create in the opening 45 minutes, but they were ahead 10 minutes into the second period when Forsberg's free kick found a route past Hugo Lloris in the home side's net.

France were behind for less than three minutes though as Pogba, who started alongside Blaise Matuidi in what was a two-man French midfield, found the back of the net with a powerful header.

Didier Deschamps's side then took the lead in the 65th minute when Payet fired home from close range after a mix-up inside the Sweden box.

The away side had chances to level late on through Jimmy Durmaz and Isaac Kiese Thelin, but a smart save from Lloris kept out the former's effort, before Thelin missed the target from inside the box as France held on for all three points to ensure that they moved to the top of Group A.