VIVE la France, sacre bleu Scotland.

Didier Deschamps’s side highlighted why so many believe they can win a major tournament on home soil for the third time in Euro 2016 in the Stade Saint-Symphorien in Metz last night in their final warm-up match before the tournament gets underway next week.

At the same time, the reasons why Gordon Strachan’s team will be absent from the finals in the coming weeks and why their hopes of progressing to Russia 2018 in their forthcoming qualifying campaign are slim were just as obvious.

Of course, only England will be capable of performing at such a high level in Group F. Who knows? Scotland may actually benefit from this demanding away outing against formidable adversaries. But it is just as possible they will struggle to recover from such a bruising defeat.

For the second time in a week they only had one shot on goal, a speculative Steven Naismith shot with a few minutes remaining, and once again it was nowhere near its intended target. There was little for Strachan to take heart from.

A double from Oliver Giroud and a goal from his Arsenal team mate Laurent Koscielny put the home team three ahead by half-time. It was a wonder they failed to add to their haul of goals in the second half.

France won both Euro ‘84 and France ’98 in their homeland. It will be no great shock if they make it a hat-trick. They were untroubled defensively last night. But in midfield they are simply mesmerising and up front their finishing is clinical. They have pace and power, are composed in possession and inventive with the ball. With home advantage, they will not be beaten easily.

Strachan had made five changes to the side which had capitulated so meekly to Italy in the Ta’ Qali Stadium in Malta six days earlier. Out dropped Callum Paterson, Ikechi Anya, Charlie Mulgrew, Matt Philips and Ross McCormack and in came Andy Robertson, Gordon Greer, Shaun Maloney, Steven Fletcher and Robert Snodgrass.

Greer, the centre half who has just been released by Brighton, had famously not been on the losing side in 10 previous appearances for his country. Did his manager think that fielding him would bring good luck? Anything was worth a shot. It was, though, to no avail.

The changes saw Russell Martin move from centre half to right back to accommodate Greer in the middle of the back line alongside Grant Hanley and Andy Robertson start at left back. David Marshall retained his place in goals.

It was certainly a significant step up for Scotland from their previous outing. France were playing their final warm-up game before hosting Euro 2016 and their supporters were out in force to give them a rousing send-off. A sell-out crowd of over 25,000 was in fine voice.

The appearance of Aime Jacquet, the manager when France won the World Cup on home soil in 1998, on the park just before kick-off cranked up the already electrifying atmosphere up to another level.

Darren Fletcher, who captained the visitors, and James McArthur retained their places in central midfield in the 4-2-3-1 formation which Strachan favours. It was, in the absence of Scott Brown and James Morrison, another excellent opportunity for both men to stake a claim for their future inclusion.

Fletcher, though, struggled with the physicality of the opposition. He was huckled off the ball by Paul Pogba, the Juventus midfielder who was phenomenal throughout, and Kingsley Coman, the Bayern Munich forward, in the opening exchanges as the home seized control of proceedings early on.

It only took six minutes for France to create their first scoring chance. Dimitri Payet supplied Olivier Giroud inside the Scotland area with a penetrating free-kick. Marshall did superbly to palm the downwards header wide.

But just two minutes later the forward made amends. Bacary Sagna, afforded too much time and space by Fletcher and Robertson on the right wing, squared a ball into the six yard bow and his team mate edged ahead of Greer and netted with a cheeky back heel.

The direct running from deep of West Ham midfielder Payet caused Scotland all kind of problems and led to the second France goal in the 35th minute. He finished a burst upfield with a low shot which Marshall could only parry straight into the path of Giroud who prodded in from a close range.

Payer and Giroud combined to create the third four minutes after that. An inswinging corner was nodded on to Koscielny who headed in himself from close range. At that stage, the 1,000 or so travelling supporters were fearing a humiliating and demoralising thrashing.

So, too, must Strachan. He withdrew Robertson, who had been unable to get near to Sagna, and Maloney, who appeared to struggle on the slick surface, and threw on Mulgrew and Anya respectively. Steven Fletcher made way for his namesake Naismith on the hour mark.

But Deschamps’s men continued to dominate. Their inventive play delighted the crowd, who gave Giroud a rousing ovation as he was substituted, and only some confident goalkeeping from Marshall kept the scoreline down. Pogba also struck the post with a free-kick.

Stephen Kingsley, the Swansea City left back, and Barrie McKay, the Rangers winger, made their international debuts. Perhaps they are the future. But Scotland will need a great deal more to take their place at the top table of international football in the years to come on this evidence.

France: Lloris, Evra (Digne, 83), Koscielny, Sagna, Rami, Kante (Sissoko, 88), Matuidi (Cabaye, 69), Pogba, Coman (Griezmann, 46), Giroud (Gignac, 63), Payet (Martial, 46).

Substitutes not used: Mandanda, Costil, Jallet, Digne, Mangala, Umtiti, Schneiderlin.

Scotland: Marshall, Martin, Robertson (Mulgrew, 46), Greer, Hanley, McArthur (McKay, 84), Darren Fletcher, Maloney (Anya, 46), Steven Fletcher (Naismith, 58), Snodgrass (Kinglsey, 64), Ritchie.

Substitutes not used: Fox, Hamilton, McCormack, Philips, Bryson, Burke, Paterson, McGinn.

Referee: Sebastien Delferiere (Belgium).