'It hasn't really hit me yet' - Kelly on France goal

Patrick Kelly said the fact that he had scored his first international goal against one of the teams highly fancied to win the World Cup hadn't really sunk in yet after Northern Ireland lost 3-1 to France in Lille.

The Barnsley midfielder pulled a goal back after Michael O'Neill's side trailed 2-0 to two Michael Olise goals, with the Bayern Munich frontman going on to add a third to complete his hat-trick.

The result gave the French a winning send-off to the World Cup and ensured Didier Deschamps' final game as manager on home soil ended positively.

Kelly rubbed shoulders with the likes of French superstars Kylian Mbappe and Ousman Dembele and was thrilled to find the net on just his second start for Northern Ireland.

"It hasn't really hit me yet. Just buzzing, a bit disappointed with the result," summed up the 21-year-old in an interview with BBC Sport NI's Gavin Andrews after the game.

"When you look at their team there isn't much expected of us against them but I thought we did really well. We were in the game throughout.

"I probably had a chance or two to score in the first half, then obviously I get one in the second half, which was a nice feeling to score my first senior international goal, but a bit gutted I didn't get another one."

Shea Charles provided the delivery for Kelly to find the target.

"It was amazing from Shea. He's a fantastic player. I saw him breaking and I gambled that he was going to get the better of his man and he did. I just made a little movement to the right," he explained.

"Thankfully he found me and it's one of the easier ones I'll score.

"A lot of us young lads can learn a lot from tonight and it will stand us in good stead."

Kelly, who began his career with Irish Premiership club Coleraine, said the fact that his club season had ended more than a month ago made the match against some of the world's top players a demanding assignment.

"It was tough. I hadn't started a match since the season ended on 2 May so for that reason it was even tougher. I really felt it tonight, especially at times in the first half.

"But I think we really had a good mentality tonight to keep digging in. We didn't give in but obviously they have serious quality and their goals were very good, but I thought it was a good performance.

"The main thing for me was the physicality and how quickly they move with the ball. They're just that extra yard quicker and stronger.

"It felt a bit surreal whenever I was walking out in the tunnel and all the fireworks were going off. It was unreal."