Graeme Souness lays into France after Kylian Mbappe got them out of jail against Denmark

Graeme Souness has insisted France ‘weren’t terribly convincing’ in their 2-1 win over Denmark on Saturday despite the World Champions confirming their place in the last 16 at the World Cup with the victory.

Kylian Mbappe‘s brace helped Didier Deschamps’ side to their second win in as many games in Qatar but they were made to work for three three points after they were pegged back by their opponents.

Souness, speaking on ITV, criticised the defending champions’ showing but admitted that France ‘don’t have to be brilliant to win things’ because of the brilliance of Mbappe.  

Graeme Souness praised Kylian Mbappe (left) for bailing France out against Denmark

He criticised the defending World Champions for their performance despite their 2-1 win

Didier Deschamps’ (right) side secured their place in the last 16 with the victory on Saturday

‘They have to be better than that’, Souness began. ‘When you’ve got an absolute goalscorer which he [Mbappe] obviously is, and the way they play where they try to suck teams onto them, when you’ve got someone who can get goals for fun, you don’t have to be a brilliant team to win things.

‘For me tonight they weren’t terribly convincing all over the pitch but with an out-and-out striker like him who scores for fun they are dangerous.’

Mbappe has already equalled Lionel Messi’s tally of seven goals at World Cups and now scored three goals in Qatar in two games.

He has moved level with Zinedine Zidane in the charts of France’s all-time top scorers with 31 goals in 60 games, including 14 in his last 12 outings.

There is a worry among fans that the 23-year-old is carrying the French team, with several social media users suggesting his quality papers over the cracks in the squad.

France were pegged back in the second half by their opponents, who had several chances

One Twitter user said: ‘Mbappe carries France they’re shocking without him’, while another added: ‘If Mbappe carries France to another WC with Adrien Rabiot in midfield it’s time to give him all the individual awards for the next four years.’

A third user wrote: ‘Mbappe carries France same way he’s been carrying Messi in Ligue 1 and Champions League.’

Les Bleus still have to play Tunisia in their final game of Group D, but seem set to win the group and face the runner up of Group C in the last 16 before a potential fixture against England in the quarter-finals.