Corentin Tolisso scores a worldie for France

While his German teammates from Bayern Munich were taking a well-deserved break in the first round of international fixtures, Corentin Tolisso started for France in his country’s friendly match against Ukraine on Wednesday. France more or less fielded their B-team for this game, with Bayern right-back Benjamin Pavard and Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud the only undisputed starters featuring.

Naturally, these games are a perfect opportunity for reserve players to prove themselves to the coach, and Tolisso did just that. He started by giving Giroud an assist with a well-taken pass in the first half.

In the second half, Tolisso got himself on the scoresheet with a belter of a goal. With the world champions 4-1 up, an erroneous clearance from the Ukrainian defense found Tolisso, who headed the ball into the path of substitute Kylian Mbappe. Mbappe passed back to Tolisso with a lovely backheel, and the Bayern midfielder unleashed a sumptuous curler from outside the box into the bottom corner. Check it out:

As Tolisso has scored some great goals in Bayern colors as well, this will just serve as even more proof of why Bayern made him their record signing at one point. Let’s hope that this goal gets his confidence up and helps him become a bigger part of the team!

Tolisso and Pavard both played the full 90 minutes as France dispatched Ukraine 7-1. Pavard also could have scored with one of his trademark outside-of-the-boot curlers, but his shot went over the bar. Bayern’s current record signing Lucas Hernandez, meanwhile, was an unused substitute, presumably being rested for the next two games, as was Champions League hero Kingsley Coman.