France Grab Narrow 1-0 Win over Bulgaria in 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifier

France took another step toward the 2018 FIFA World Cup on Saturday, beating Bulgaria 1-0 in Sofia.

Les Bleus took an early lead through Blaise Matuidi and controlled the pace the rest of the way, as the match turned into a drab affair. With the win, France maintain their one-point lead over Sweden for first place in Group A.

Here's a look at the two teams:

"

La composition de nos Bleus pour affronter la Bulgarie ! #BULFRA #FiersdetreBleus pic.twitter.com/WmNhv4I2mS

— Equipe de France (@equipedefrance) October 7, 2017"

It took Les Bleus just over two minutes to take the lead, as a lovely attack via Antoine Griezmann ended up with Matuidi blasting home from a tight angle.

Fox Soccer shared the highlight of the goal:

The early advantage was exactly what Les Bleus needed, and given the tricky playing conditions, Bulgaria had their work cut out for them. Neither team was able to create many chances, although Kylian Mbappe kept goalkeeper Plamen Iliev busy with an angled shot.

Corentin Tolisso also tried his luck, firing wide, and Griezmann suffered a similar fate after a defender slipped to give him the chance.

As highlighted by B/R Football, conditions were tough:

Defender Vasil Bozhikov made a stunning tackle to stop Alexandre Lacazette from doubling the advantage, before N'Golo Kante was forced to leave the pitch with what appeared to be a hamstring issue.

Hugo Lloris blundered and nearly gifted the hosts the equaliser, but he redeemed himself with a good save on Spas Delev. The final chance of the half fell to Mbappe, who rushed his effort and fired over.

Les Bleus nearly gave the hosts another gift straight from kick-off, as Georgi Kostadinov took advantage of another slip before cutting inside and firing wide. Bulgaria started the second half well, and a mad scramble in the box caused some panic for France.

French Football Weekly were not impressed:

Bulgaria did well to maintain possession, but they struggled to create much. Their players were a bit too aggressive and lacked patience, resulting in a number of cautions and no threats to Lloris' goal.

France were fairly comfortable in holding onto their lead for the last 20 minutes and will go into Tuesday's home game against Belarus knowing a win will secure top spot in the Group A.