France booked their place in next year's World Cup finals after beating Ukraine 3-0 in the second leg of their playoff this evening.

The home side faced a tough night after losing the first leg and had to overturn a two-goal deficit.

Mamadou Sakho and Karim Benzema scored to level the tie, before a second-half own goal from Oleg Gusev completed their comeback.

Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at the events that unfolded at the Stade de France

Match statistics:

France:
Shots 19
On Target 8
Possession 68%
Corners 7
Fouls 20

Ukraine:
Shots 7
On Target 1
Possession 32%
Corners 6
Fouls 16

Was the result fair?

France fully deserved their win today. They dominated from the start and their positive attacking play was rewarded with the goals they desperately needed. There may be controversy over the second goal they scored which should have been ruled out for offside, but they should have been given a goal that was wrongly disallowed just minutes before. After their 2-0 win last week, Ukraine would have been confident of holding on to their lead tonight, but they lacked the hunger and desire needed on such a big occasion.

France's performance

France were outstanding from start to finish. They attacked Ukraine from the start in a bid to fight back from two goals down and their pressure was rewarded. The forward play from Frank Ribery, Mathieu Valbuena and Benzema was exceptional, with Paul Pogba an assured presence in the heart of midfield. They had 19 strikes on the opposition goal, with the majority of their efforts clear scoring opportunities. They were much more solid defensively than in last week's first leg and dealt with the rare threat that Ukraine posed with ease.

Ukraine's performance

It was a poor display from the away side who would have been confident of reaching the World Cup finals before kickoff. They started slowly and allowed France possession of the ball far too easily, while failing to pose a threat from an attacking point of view. Ukraine were not helped out by Yevhen Khacheridi's red card early in the second half and they will look back on a missed opportunity after last week's first-leg victory.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Mathieu Valbuena: The Marseille midfielder was fantastic this evening and was involved in all of France's best moments. He played a part in the build-up to his side's first two goals and came close to scoring himself, most notably with a powerful drive that Andriy Pyatov did well to keep out. Valbuena was not named in the starting lineup for his side last week, but after tonight's influential display, he must considered to be one of the first names on the team sheet.

Biggest gaffe

With the scores level on aggregate at 2-2, Ukraine came out at the start of the second half, with everything left to play for. Two minutes later though, they were down to 10 men as Khacheridi picked up a second yellow card for a cynical challenge on Ribery. His sending off gave Ukraine no choice but to adapt a more defensive mindset, and in the end, played a huge part in costing them a place in the World Cup finals.

Referee performance

Damir Skomina had a poor game at the Stade de France this evening. In a game of such magnitude, he got the two biggest decisions of the night wrong. Benzema had a goal ruled out when he was in line with the defence, before he then scored from an offside position, but the goal was given. Skomina's decision to send off Khacheridi was correct, but a number of the yellow cards he gave out proceeding the challenge were debatable.

What next?

Didier Deschamps can look forward to taking charge of France in next summer's World Cup finals. The display from the home side this evening will have breathed new confidence into the nation and they must be considered as one of the favourites for the trophy in Brazil. As for Ukraine, Mykhaylo Fomenko has done a fantastic job since taking charge and will have to prepare his team for next years European Championship qualifiers.

Written by
Alex Meyers