The Republic of Ireland made a losing start to Euro 2024 qualifying as Benjamin Pavard's superb second-half goal gave France victory in Dublin.
Having held the French in a first half of few chances, the Republic fell behind five minutes after the restart when Pavard intercepted a Josh Cullen pass and fired past Southampton goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu.
The Republic put the beaten World Cup finalists under severe pressure late on but fell short as Mike Maignan's stunning save denied Nathan Collins a late leveller.
The Republic's next qualifier sees them travel to Greece on 16 June.
But while the Irish must wait nearly three months to try and get points on the board, France are already well on their way to qualifying for next year's finals in Germany after backing up their rout of the Netherlands with a narrow win in front of a raucous Dublin crowd.
