Doue Brace Leads France Past Colombia in Friendly

Landover, Maryland—Rising star Désiré Doué announced himself on the international stage with a first-half strike and a second-half finish, powering a revamped France side to a 3-1 victory over Colombia on Sunday at FedExField and closing the Bleus’ U.S. tour on a high note.

The 20-year-old Paris Saint-Germain forward opened the scoring on the half-hour, seeing his low drive from the edge of the area deflect past goalkeeper Camilo Vargas off the boot of Crystal Palace defender Daniel Muñoz. Inter Milan’s Marcus Thuram doubled the advantage four minutes before the interval, steering in a pinpoint cross from Monaco midfielder Maghnes Akliouche.

Doué completed his brace in the 56th minute after latching onto Thuram’s cushioned lay-off and finishing clinically inside the box. Colombia pulled one back almost immediately when Jaminton Campaz cracked a shot in off the upright, but the South Americans could not claw any closer.

Regular captain Kylian Mbappé, fresh from three weeks out with a knee issue, entered late as Didier Deschamps emptied his bench. The cameo kept the Real Madrid attacker on 56 goals from 96 caps, one shy of Olivier Giroud’s national record.

Deschamps overhauled his entire starting XI from Thursday’s 2-1 defeat of Brazil, giving fringe players a final audition before he names his World Cup squad in May. Colombia, by contrast, retained most of the lineup that lost 2-1 to Croatia in Orlando, spearheaded by Bayern Munich’s Luis Díaz and former Real Madrid creator James Rodríguez.

“It was a good win. It wasn’t easy,” Doué told TF1 after bagging his first two goals in blue. “It’s a really proud moment and I’m very happy. We’ve had two good warm-up matches before the World Cup. It was important to win today and that’s what we did. We played with intensity and did some good things. We need to keep it going like that.”

The triumph sealed a perfect two-win swing through the United States for Les Bleus, who now return to Europe with momentum ahead of this autumn’s global showcase.