A double from Kylian Mbappe led France to a 2-1 victory over the Netherlands in Amsterdam.
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With a number of injuries, Ronald Koeman handed debuts to Bart Verbruggen and Quilindschy Hartman, while Joey Veerman made his first start in the midfield. Up front, Wout Weghorst and Xavi Simons were chosen.
Koeman would have been hoping for a good start but after seven minutes, Kylian Mbappe got ahead of Lutsharel Geertruida to fire France in front. Verbruggen got his hand to the shot but couldn’t prevent it finding the net.
Netherlands came out of their shell as the half went on and Veerman should have made it 1-1. However, the PSV midfielder shot over the bar after a Denzel Dumfries cutback. Simons then had a strike well saved.
Weghorst had to be replaced due to an injury and Donyell Malen came on. At the break, Mats Wieffer replaced Marten de Roon.
Early in the second half, France doubled their lead as Mbappe brilliantly curled an effort past Verbruggen from just outside the box.
After an hour, Malen had the ball in the net but Nathan Ake was offside in the build up and the goal was chalked off. Koeman handed a debut to Jeremie Frimpong and Micky van de Ven, while Steven Bergwijn also came on.
Bergwijn played a role in the Netherlands pulling a goal back in the 82nd minute as he played in Hartman to fire past Mike Maignon.
Mbappe hit the crossbar shortly afterward, while the Netherlands struggled to create a clear-cut chance for an equaliser.
France held on and the Netherlands now head to Greece on Monday for a crucial tie. The Greeks defeated the Republic of Ireland 2-0 and are now three points ahead in second.
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Despite the loss and the absence of number of key players it was a good performance