Olivier Giroud and Nabil Fekir were on target as France stepped up their World Cup preparations by beating the Republic of Ireland 2-0 in Paris on Monday evening.

Chelsea striker Giroud bundled in the opener at the Stade de France, and Lyon captain Fekir – who has been linked with a move to Liverpool – got the second just before the break, with a helping hand from Ireland goalkeeper Colin Doyle.

It was a very comfortable victory for Didier Deschamps’ side in the first of three friendly matches before they head to Russia.

Les Bleus will also host Italy in Nice on Friday and the United States in Lyon on June 9, with their opening World Cup fixture against Australia in Kazan on June 16.

“The game maybe didn’t meet all my expectations, but we controlled it well, got the breakthrough before half-time and our movement was good, so there were plenty of good things to take from it,” said Deschamps.

France’s strength in depth, showcased here on a night of torrential rain, thunder and lightning, means they are among the contenders to win the World Cup, 20 years after becoming world champions on home soil.

However, bigger tests lie in wait than that provided by Martin O’Neill’s Ireland side.

The visitors started with seven players who turned out in the English Premier League this season, but they hardly got near the ball all evening.

France were not at full strength, with goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante and Antoine Griezmann starting on the bench. Raphael Varane has not yet joined up with the squad after winning the Champions League with Real Madrid at the weekend.

However, Deschamps handed a fifth cap to Benjamin Mendy, the Manchester City left-back who has hardly played since suffering a serious knee injury at the beginning of the campaign.

Fekir won his 11th cap, starting for his country for the first time since he also suffered a bad knee injury in a friendly in Portugal in September 2015.

The 24-year-old is coming off a fantastic season at Lyon and was given his chance by Deschamps in a role supporting Giroud.

Fekir curled an early free-kick just wide and Corentin Tolisso struck the post for the French in a first half held up at one point by a pitch invader who gave chasing security staff the runaround on the sodden surface.

The opening goal came in the 40th minute, Giroud bundling the ball in at the third attempt following a Fekir corner.

Fekir made it two a minute from the break, collecting a pass from the ever-dangerous Kylian Mbappe just inside the area, turning and hitting a shot on his weaker right foot that was parried by Doyle.

However, the unfortunate goalkeeper could only send the ball up into the air before it spun over the line.

Despite the best efforts of Mbappe – who had a goal disallowed for offside – France failed to add to their lead in a second half regularly interrupted by substitutions before the rain made conditions increasingly farcical towards the end.

Mario Balotelli got new Italy coach Roberto Mancini off to a winning start by scoring the opener in a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia in a pre-World Cup friendly in Saint Gallen on Monday.

Saudi Arabia face hosts Russia in the opening match of the tournament on June 14 while four-time champions Italy stay home following their failure to qualify for the first time in 60 years.

Made the scapegoat for Italy’s first-round exit from the 2014 World Cup, Balotelli’s four-year Azzurri hiatus ended when he was recalled by Mancini, appointed six months after Italy’s shock failure to qualify for Russia following a playoff defeat to Sweden.

It took the 27-year-old Nice striker just 21 minutes to get on the scoreboard with his first goal for Italy since netting the winner against England at the 2014 World Cup.

Substitute Andrea Belotti added a second midway through the second half before Yahya Al-Shehri pulled one back for the Saudis following Italian defensive blunders.

“I’m satisfied with the first half-performance. The difficulties of the second half were down to tiredness due to the extra fitness training we’ve been doing over the last few days,” said Mancini.

“Saudi Arabia are approaching peak form because they are going to the World Cup. I wasn’t angry about the goal we conceded. I thought it was down to fatigue.”

Mancini said Balotelli’s performance was “pretty good”.

“Balotelli can do better, much better, but I thought he did pretty good in the first half. He scored a goal, which is important for a striker, but of course he can do more.”

Italy have dropped to their lowest ever world ranking of 20th, but were in control against the 67th-ranked Saudis.

Mancini opted for a 4-3-3 formation with Gianluigi Donnarumma in goal and Sassuolo winger Matteo Politano handed his full debut.

Balotelli came out firing early with the Nice striker heading just wide off a Leonardo Bonucci cross.

He finally found a way through with a low drive under the outstretched arms of Saudi goalkeeper Mohammed Al Owais for his 14th goal in 34 appearances.

Napoli winger Lorenzo Insigne nearly added a second minutes later after picking up a pin perfect cross but defender Yasir Al Shahrani blocked.

An Alessio Romagnoli bicycle kick flew just wide with Domenico Criscito rattling the the crossbar.

‘Open wound’

Both Mancini and Saudi coach Juan Antonio Pizzi made substitutions in the second half with Balotelli making way for Belotti after 58 minutes.

And the 24-year-old Torino striker scored the second when he turned in a rebound ten minutes later.

Al-Shehri pulled Saudi Arabia back into the game four minutes later taking advantage of defensive error by Davide Zappacosta.

Leganes winger Al-Shehri picked up a Salem Al Dawsari flick and fired past the outrushing Donnarumma into an empty net.

After Donnarumma denied Fahad Al Muwallad a late equaliser Italy held on for their first win since their 1-0 World Cup qualifier away to Albania on October 9, which was followed by two draws and two defeats.

“In the second half we held our own against one of the best teams in the world,” said Saudi coach Pizzi. “Although they are not in the World Cup, they have a great coach, an unparalleled history.”

Belotti added: “The failure to reach the World Cup is something that continues to hurt, it’s an open wound.

“We must start again and build our self-confidence, which I think is what we saw tonight.”

Italy play two more friendlies, against France on June 1 in Nice and the Netherlands on June 4 in Turin.

The Saudis play two more warm-up games, against Peru on June 3 and Germany on June 8 before kicking off their World Cup campaign.

AC Milan striker Andre Silva hit a landmark 1000th goal for the hosts but there was little to celebrate as Cristiano Ronaldo-less Portugal were held 2-2 by Tunisia in a pre-World Cup friendly on Monday.

Still smarting from a 3-0 defeat to the Netherlands in Geneva last March, Portugal fans were hoping for a morale-boosting win less than two weeks before they head to Russia.

But the defending European champions, who face Spain, Morocco and Iran in Group B, largely flattered to deceive.

Ronaldo and his goalscoring exploits would have been welcome in Braga, but the Portugal striker was given time off following Real Madrid’s 3-1 victory over Liverpool in the Champions League final on Saturday.

Portugal coach Fernando Santos gave Silva the nod and, despite a lack of playing time at Milan, the 22-year-old did well to head home the opener from Ricardo Quaresma’s pinpoint cross on 22 minutes.

It was the 1000th goal scored in Portugal colours.

Portugal doubled their lead on 34 minutes when Joao Mario, who has also endured a tough season in Italy with Inter Milan and a loan move to West Ham, pounced on a poor clearance from a corner to fire a rocket into the top corner from the edge of the area.

Strong and physical throughout, Tunisia were sorely lacking technique and attacking prowess.

But when the disappointing Raphael Guerreiro fluffed his lines, Esperance striker Anice Badri reduced arrears just before the interval.

Portugal continued to dominate but after Bernardo Silva fired wide the hosts paid the price for loose defending when Fakhredine Ben Youssef hit a 64th minute equaliser.

Portugal are likely to still be without Ronaldo when they face Belgium in Brussels on June 2 and Algeria in Lisbon on June 7.