France beat Bulgaria to retain control of World Cup qualifying fate

Blaise Matuidi's early goal proved enough for France to secure a crucial 1-0 victory away to Bulgaria which put them back at the top of World Cup European Qualifying Group A.

The pressure was on after Sweden had earlier swept past Luxembourg 8-0 to boost their hopes of making it to Russia, which in turn all but eliminated Holland, who later won 3-1 in Belarus.