Late goals from Griezmann, Payat lift hosts France over Albania to advance

France star midfielders Antoine Griezmann and Dimitri Payet scored in the 90th and 96th minute respectively to gift the hosts a 2-0 win over Albania here on Wednesday and the first ticket to the EURO 2016 knockout stage.

The main thing for France was winning and going through. For 89 minutes, it looked like a frustrating night for Les Bleus.

In the 90th minute, second half substitute Griezmann glanced in a header after a fine cross from Adil Rami.

In the 96th minute, Payet, who scored a late goal in the tournament opener against Romania, picked up Paul Pogba's raking pass and cut in from the left before curling home a low effort in the box.

Payet became the Man of the Match again with another creative display capped off with the second goal which sealed it. He completed 41 of his 54 passes, and caused Albania plenty of problems with his set-piece delivery, creating six chances for his teammates and racking up an impressive 17 crosses.

EURO 2016 is Albania's first major tournament. After losing to Switzerland and France, the debutants are at the bottom of Group A.

France had won 10 of their last 11 international matches and will want to show patience in aiming to extend that run. However, Albania were well-organised in the first half, and France were frustrated by a deep-lying Albanian backline.

France made a predictable change after the interval, Pogba replacing Martial. France's formation shifted to 4-3-3 with Payet on the left.

Griezmann came from the bench in the 68th minute to play the key role in the rest of the time.

After beating Romania 2-1 and Albania 2-0, France topped Group A with six points, followed by Switzerland with four points, Romania one and Albania none. Endit