Belarus 0 France 0: Paul Pogba and co frustrated in poor performance against a resolute Belarus

IN their first competitive match since losing the Euro 2016 final, France seemed to suffer a hangover against plucky Belarus in Barysaw with Olivier Giroud missing a host of chances and Paul Pogba should have scored from a yard out.

France, who before the match had lost only one of their last 12 games – the final on home turf v Portugal – struggled to break down a resilient Belarus who spent much of the first half camped in their own territory.

But it was the eastern European minnows who had the first clear chance of the match, when Mikalay Signevich really had to score with an open goal but he totally missed the ball. Luckily for him the flag was up for offside.

France registered their first major opportunity on 33 minutes when the otherwise quiet Anthony Martial found some space on the left after some nice link-up play with Antoine Griezmann and Paul Pogba.

He picked out Arsenal bench-warmer Olivier Giroud but his header was deflected behind for a corner which didn't lead to anything.

Pogba's most notable contributions were two speculative long shots in a dire half with almost nothing to shout about with France not looking like breaking through.

Belarus started the second half in strong fashion, pushing forward with real intent clearly feeling France and their shaky defence were there for the taking.

But Les Bleus got their bearings eventually and so nearly took the lead when Griezmann dinked the ball away from two defenders and then produced a stunning backheel to play through Giroud - but he drags his shot horribly wide.

Dimitri Payet, who came on for the disappointing Martial, floated a wonderful cross in from a corner but Giroud missed yet again when his header clipped the bar and went over.

By 68 minutes France were making all the running, and Giroud and new Spurs man Moussa Sissoko linked up well on the right with the latter sending a good ball in but - Griezmann was denied again by the solid Gorbunov.

The quiet Pogba really should have scored on 72 minutes when the impressive Gorbunov palmed away a wide ball in - but the ball was taken off the world's most expensive footballer's feet from a yard out by a last gasp piece of Belarus defending.

But Didier Deschamps' men could not find a breakthrough as their World Cup qualification campaign got off to a poor start in a tough group that contains the Netherlands.