France held by Iceland and loses perfect record in qualifying for World Cup

France missed a chance to secure a spot at the 2026 World Cup on Monday after being held to 2-2 at Iceland.

The result in Reykjavik halted France’s perfect start in European qualifying after three straight victories. The two-time world champion could have sealed qualification if it had beaten Iceland and Ukraine failed to defeat Azerbaijan. Ukraine won 2-1.

Runner-up at the 2022 World Cup, France still leads Group D with 10 points, three more than Ukraine.

Switzerland also had a chance to secure a World Cup spot but it couldn’t manage more than 0-0 at Slovenia.

Switzerland would have qualified if it had beaten Slovenia and Kosovo failed to defeat Sweden. Kosovo won 1-0.

In other results, Germany won at Northern Ireland 1-0, Slovakia beat Luxembourg 2-0 and North Macedonia drew with Kazakhstan 1-1. Belgium won at Wales 4-2 with a pair of goals by Kevin de Bruyne.

France was without captain Kylian Mbappé, who scored in the team’s 3-0 victory over Azerbaijan on Friday but limped off the field with a right ankle injury.

The 2026 World Cup will be in the United States, Canada and Mexico. It is the first with an expanded field of 48 teams, up from 32.