Olivier Giroud defied the doubters again as he marked his France comeback by scoring his 47th international goal when the world champions beat Ivory Coast 2-1 in a friendly on Friday.

Giroud, who had not been called up since his country were knocked out in the last-16 of the European Championship last year, cancelled out Nicolas Pepe’s opener to move four goals shy of Thierry Henry’s France all-time scoring record before Aurelie Tchouameni wrapped up the win in stoppage time.

The AC Milan forward, who rarely disappointed coach Didier Deschamps despite limited playing time when he was at Chelsea, was included in the squad following Karim Benzema’s injury.

He started alongside Christopher Nkunku as Kylian Mbappe sat on the bench after suffering from an ear, nose and throat infection earlier this week.

“We had less stamina after the break but we were rarely in danger. We’re a bit lucky to score that second goal but that’s the name of the game,” said Deschamps.