European Qualifiers, France 3-0 Andorra: 3 reasons why Les Blues won the match

France put forth a dominant display against minnows Andorra, beating them 3-0 and moving to the top of Group H. Goals from the in-form Kingsley Coman, Clement Lenglet and Wissam Ben Yedder ensured a fifth win in six qualifier matches for Didier Deschamps' side.

Third-placed Iceland squandered the opportunity to go level on points with Turkey and France, losing 4-2 in a thrilling encounter against Albania. Although that provides some breathing space for Les Blues, the world champions would know that there's no leeway for taking their foot off the pedal in this tightly-contested group.

Although they could have and probably should have inflicted a bigger loss to Andorra in a game that saw them control proceedings in astounding fashion throughout, France recorded yet another disciplined and neat display.

As far as the visitors are concerned, apart from a break away in the 65th minute, they never looked like testing Hugo Lloris in goal. Fortunately for Koldo Alvarez, it didn't turn out to a be a humiliating score line.

Without further ado, we break down three tactical reasons behind France's comprehensive victory against Andorra.

#3 Slew of chances helped gain momentum

France continuously knocked at the Andorra defense throughout the game, not allowing them to breathe even for a moment. It was only a matter of time before the goals started to flow in.

Reset and start was the name of the game, as France constantly began attacks from the middle thirds of the pitch. They saw their first chance of the game when Olivier Giroud's mis-kick fell kindly to Nanitamo Ikone, who almost stumbled home the opener in just the second minute.

The likes of Lucas Digne and Coman enjoyed fine exchanges down the left, before the latter himself got on the end of a well-timed through pass from Ikone and rifled in the first.

The pace of the game did not drop from there; with about 92% possession till the half-hour mark, France looked eager to add a second. Digne had his effort blocked, while Giroud should have got his name on the score sheet in the 25th minute when Andorra failed to clear their lines.

Raphael Varane then joined the party as he launched a fierce strike on goal, only to be denied by the fingertips of Josep Gomes.

Antoine Griezmann, who wasn't involved in the game much early on, missed a second successive penalty in as many games just before the 30-minute mark.

Nonetheless, Deschamps and Co did not allow Andorra to get into the game at all, registering as many as 31 shots on goal. In the process, they built a platform for themselves to exercise their attacking setup and start attacks over and over again.

#2 Defending with the ball against a toothless Andorra outfit

Hugo Lloris watched on without having to make a save in the entire match

If 31 efforts (with 12 of them being on target) to go along with the 84% possession statistic weren't enough to demonstrate France's supremacy in the game, the fact that they faced only one shot in 90 minutes confirmed it.

Hugo Lloris barely stretched his arms as Andorra failed to test him with an effort on target. In games such as these, where the opposition is defending in numbers and struggling to stitch together a few passes, it's important to mold into a ball retention-based setup.

In order to avoid a counter, France deployed a smoother, safer passing approach to the game as well.

However, it was the structure that impressed everyone, as they simply did not let Andorra get out of their own half. The likes of Raphael Varane and Clement Lenglet were well wide and advanced - ahead of the half line - in their quest to keep the ball and supply forward passes.

They were more or less always shielded by a couple of midfielders on either side diagonally, to sting out both wide and potential central attacks.

France defended with the ball, capitalized on Andorra's sloppy play at times and pressed high up the pitch.

#1 Complete dominance in all departments

France enjoyed 84% of the ball against Andorra

It could have been five, six or even more against the minnows; nevertheless, France hardly ever looked troubled against Andorra. There was not a single moment that saw any of their players caught out or backpedaling - such was the dominance they exhibited.

Further, France defended during possession by covering the extra yard during retention and staying high up the pitch - a method that required lots of passes. They did just that, racking up a staggering 796 passes over the course of 90 minutes. In contrast, the visitors only managed 155.

To add to the superiority displayed by France, they completed those passes at 90.5% accuracy. While having 20 touches inside the opposition box is considered a positive indication, Les Blues mustered as many shots from inside the 18-yard box. Boy, was the Andorra defense kept on its toes!

Didier Deschamps is highly regarded for the way he plots his attacking players, asking them to create space for crosses by making false runs and playing quick interchanges down the flanks. It's fair to say he'd be impressed, as his side crossed the ball 32 times.

France, despite not scoring as many as they should have, knocked the stuffing out of their opposition through their all-round dominance.

Edited by Musab Abid