France forward Kylian Mbappé showed no ill effects of his left knee injury on Thursday when he broke free for a goal to give France an early lead on its way to a 2-1 victory over Brazil in a World Cup tuneup between two of the world’s top teams.
With a crowd of 66,215 heavily favoring Brazil, Mbappé and Hugo Ekitike gave France a 2-0 lead on the same pitch where they will play their final group stage game of this summer’s World Cup, against Norway and Erling Haaland. Bremer cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 78th minute.
The friendly went off without any evident hiccups despite the simmering feud between the town of Foxborough and World Cup organizers over almost $8 million in security costs. The sides reached an agreement two weeks ago in which the organizing committee promised to make the payment in advance and the town approved the necessary entertainment license.
That was expected to be the last remaining obstacle to the world’s biggest sporting event arriving in this 20,000-person suburb tucked between Boston and Providence, Rhode Island, that swells to three times its size for New England Patriots games. To accommodate FIFA requirements, a grass field has replaced the artificial turf that had been used for the NFL’s Patriots and the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer.
The crowd was the second-largest to watch a soccer match at Gillette Stadium, behind only a 2007 friendly between Brazil and Mexico. It was speckled with fans in Brazilian yellow kits, with just a few French flags waving to celebrate Mbappé’s goal. (The media dining room was more neutral, with madeleines, macarons and eclairs alongside Brazilian brigadeiro, pudim and mousse deo maracuja.)
Players from the NBA’s Boston Celtics
Also in the house were coach Joe Mazzulla and players from the NBA’s Boston Celtics, with forward Jayson Tatum taking part in the pregame coin toss alongside Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey.
A former Paris Saint-Germain and current Real Madrid star, Mbappé sprained his left knee in December but played through January before missing almost a month. He was used as a substitute in Real Madrid’s last two matches but started on Thursday.
Mbappé said on Monday that his injury was “truly behind me.” (Reports that said the team examined the wrong knee were false, Mbappé said at a news conference in Foxborough on Wednesday.)
And he showed it in the 32nd minute when Ousmane Dembélé delivered a through ball that left no one between Mbappé and the goalkeeper. The 2018 World Cup champion and 2022 Golden Boot winner tapped it ahead once before chipping it over the keeper to make it 1-0.
France took a 2-0 lead in the 65th minute when Ekitike, Liverpool’s top scorer this season, converted on a pass from Michael Olise in the penalty area. Mbappé left for a substitute immediately afterward.
Upamecano was sent off
After France’s Dayot Upamecano was sent off in the 55th minute for taking down a player with a clear path to the goal, a card that was upgraded from yellow to red on video review, Brazil cut the deficit to 2-1 when Bremer redirected a cross from Luiz Henrique past France keeper Mike Maignan.
The game also featured a mid-half “cooling break” that enabled players to rest and hydrate – even though the temperature in early spring New England was in the mid-60s (15 Celsius). After a heat wave during last year’s Club World Cup, FIFA announced that all games in the 2026 World Cup would include the break, regardless of the temperature on the pitch.
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