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France were held to a 1-1 draw by Group 4 rivals Switzerland on Saturday and now need to beat Cyprus on Wednesday to keep their World Cup qualifying hopes alive.
In normal circumstances France, ranked sixth in the world by FIFA, would consider themselves favourites for a qualifying match against their alpine neighbours, classed 38 in the world by the sports governing body.
However, both sides were joined earlier in the day by the Republic of Ireland atop the Group 4 standings with 16 points apiece and the pressure was on the French, still reeling from a disastrous start to qualifying.
France Coach Raymond Domenech elected to start Sylvain Wiltord instead of Djibril Cissé in attack, with Paris Saint-Germain’s Vikash Dhorasoo on the right and Lyon’s Florent Malouda on the left of Zinedine Zidane in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Despite the presence of both Patrick Vieira and Claude Makelele in central midfield France experienced difficulty constructing play under the homeside’s fierce pressing game.
The visitors were given an early scare when Rennes-based striker Alexander Frei had the ball in the back net after eight minutes, only to see it correctly ruled out for offside.
France replied from a corner just moments later when Zidane laid the ball the back to an unmarked Vieira on the edge of the area. But, the Juventus midfielder elected to pass rather than shoot and Wiltord’s effort from the right was closed down.
The Swiss continued to dominate and were left fuming at Norwegian referee Mr Hauge when Makelele was allowed to remain on the field after bringing down the lightning quick Cabanas as he sped into French territory.
The hard-working Wiltord was being bombarded with aerial balls and Swiss central defence, comprised of Senderos and Muller were dealing comfortably with the rarely posed threat and Swiss ‘keeper Zuberbuhler would remain untested in the opening 45 minutes.
The same could not be said for Coupet.
Just after the half-hour the Lyon shot-stopper denied Frei with an improvised clearance outside his area before Barnetta saw his right-foot shot flash the wrong side of the left upright, but this time Coupet was all-but beaten.
Zidane and Vieira upped the tempo in the final 10 minutes of the first-half, but despite forcing their hosts onto the back foot for the first time in the match, France failed to budge the Swiss defensive block.
In an effort to find more attacking presence, Domenech replaced Dhorasoo with Cissé and switched Wiltord to a more advanced position on the right.
The move was to prove critical, but only after Senderos failed to test Coupet with a free header from a well-worked corner routine just moments into the second period.
On 53-minutes Cissé thought he’d booked France’s passage to Germany when he opened the mark with a typically determined effort.
The Liverpool striker’s first touch from Wiltord’s raking ball forward inadvertently played the ball in behind Muller and the former Lyon defender made a meal of the resulting loose ball, beating his own ‘keeper before Cissé pounced to pass the ball into an empty net.
Switzerland appeared rocked by the goal, however aside from a second rasping Cissé drive and a Wiltord solo effort, both turned behind by Zuberbuhler, the visitors were unable to make the break and the homeside’s confidence returned.
With 10 minutes left they were handed a lifeline – one that rekindled their own dreams of qualifying for Germany.
A free-kick, viciously struck by the cultured left-foot of Magnin, was glanced on by Senderos and nestled into the bottom corner of Coupet’s goal.
It sparked a frenetic finale.
Switzerland pushed in search of a second goal and they almost got it in identical fashion to the first when another Magnin missile somehow scythed its way through a crowded box and into Coupet’s grateful arms.
The result sees France drop down to third in Group 4 with 17 points, behind Israel (18points from their ten games) and still behind Switzerland on goal difference.
France have to beat Cyprus on Wednesday to ensure they finish in the top two.
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