France have sent a warning to their World Cup rivals by hammering Switzerland 5-2 in their Group E clash in Salvador.
Didier Deschamps had his charges up and about for their meeting with their neighbours and they produced a devastating first 45 minutes before sharing the honours with the Swiss in the second half in a match that produced seven individual goalscorers.
France opened the scoring in the 17th minute when Mathieu Valbuena swung in a corner from the right which allowed Olivier Giroud to hang high above the pack to send a thunderous header in off the left upright with a little help from the outstretched hand of Diego Benaglio. The goal was France's 100th in the World Cup.
In a blink of an eye, Les Bleus were two to the good when Karim Benzema pounced on a poor pass from Valon Behrami from the impending kick-off before teeing up Blaise Matuidi who fired inside Benaglio's near post from a tight angle on the left.
A third goal before half-time was achievable and it came with five minutes remaining when Valbuena was the recipient of a perfect pass from Giroud to slot home from pointblank range to complete a swift counter-attack.
It had begun when Giroud got his head to a corner before a couple of passes released the Arsenal man into acres of space and he raced into the area before duly squaring up for Valbuena to hit the back of the net with an empty goal in front of him.
Switzerland had improved swiftly in the second half and had made life a little more difficult for the French but that did not stop Les Bleus from piling on more scoreboard pressure by scoring a fourth goal in the 67th minute.
Benzema, who saw his 32nd-minute penalty saved by Benaglio, then got in on the act when he raced onto a sublime through ball from substitute Paul Pogba. The aerial pass was completely missed by Swiss defender Philippe Senderos which gave Benzema the opportunity to dink the ball between the legs of Benaglio for his third of the tournament.
Six minutes later and the French got a fifth when Benzema fed Moussa Sissoko from the top of the 'D' which allowed the Newcastle United midfielder to hammer a low shot across Benaglio and inside the far post from the right side of the area.
Switzerland did manage to pull one back as the minutes ticked on and it was in fine fashion as half-time sub Blerim Dzemaili fired a long range free-kick through the three-man wall and into the bottom left corner past the outstretched hand of Hugo Lloris.
A second Swiss goal came soon after as the French switched off and this one was better than the first with Granit Xhaka timing his run to perfection to sweetly fire home a volley from Gokhan Inler's chipped through ball.
It was a confident finish from the Swiss but the two goals are really only for show as they did nothing to resurrect this particular fixture which was essentially over at half-time.
France will now look to make it three wins from three group matches when they take on Ecuador at the Maracana in Rio on June 25 while the Swiss will hope to qualify for the Round of 16 when they meet Honduras in Manaus on the same day.
2014 FIFA World Cup - Group E
Switzerland: 2 (Blerim Dzemaili 81', Granit Xhaka 87') France: 5 (Olivier Giroud 17', Blaise Matuidi 18', Mathieu Valbuena 40', Karim Benzema 67', Moussa Sissoko 73')
Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador - 51,003
Yellow cards:SUI - nil FRA - Yohan Cabaye 88'
Missed penalties:FRA - Karim Benzema 32'
