( CNN ) -- France 's history at major tournaments recently suggests no one should be calling `` Les Bleus '' title contenders at this year 's World Cup just yet but after Friday 's game against Switzerland even the team 's harshest critics must be optimistic . France crushed Switzerland 5-2 in Salvador and almost booked its spot in the second round with two wins from as many games in Group E. The last time the French went 2-0 to start a World Cup , it won the title on home soil in 1998 . Now that 's a good omen . Things could still go wrong , however . Look at the European Championships two years ago , when Laurent Blanc led a long unbeaten French side to Poland and Ukraine . Still unbeaten and already qualified for the quarterfinals with a game to spare , France came unstuck in a dead rubber against Sweden and subsequently crumbled against Spain . The infighting , present in South Africa in 2010 , resurfaced . Current French boss Didier Deschamps -- Blanc 's teammate on the World Cup winning squad -- is so far managing to keep the side unified and has found a way to unlock striker Karim Benzema . Benzema netted twice against Honduras in the opening 3-0 victory and scored again against the fragile Swiss , adding two assists . France threatened to score almost every time it went forward . Striker Olivier Giroud was hoping for a start against the Swiss and Deschamps duly inserted the Arsenal man into the lineup . He repaid his manager with a header in the 17th minute and less than a minute later , the French realistically put the Swiss away as Blaise Matuidi beat keeper Diego Benaglio with a low shot to the near post . It would have been three had Benzema not seen his penalty saved by Benaglio . The football was still free flowing and it came as no surprise when Giroud set up Mathieu Valbuena from close range in the 40th minute . Benzema made it four in the 67th minute before Moussa Sissoko further humbled the Swiss six minutes later . Two Swiss goals in the final 10 minutes made the score respectable . Blerim Dzemaili beat Hugo Lloris with a low free kick in the 81st minute and Granit Xhaka cut the deficit to three in the 87th . Those goals could be pivotal for the Swiss given goal difference is the first criteria to separate teams when tied in the standings . Thus , when Benzema had a goal disallowed because the final whistle blew , there was more relief for Switzerland . Switzerland remains on three points , while Ecuador rose to three and leapfrogged Switzerland on goal difference by later defeating Honduras 2-1 . Valencia shines . With both teams realistically needing a win to progress to the next round , the first half between Ecuador and Honduras was messy but delightfully end-to-end in Curitiba . Enner Valencia spurned a chance early for the South Americans and Honduras celebrated wildly when Carlo Costly scored his team 's first goal at a World Cup in 32 years with a low finish near the edge of the box . Instead of holding firm , though , Honduras quickly conceded in the 34th minute to reawaken Ecuador . Valencia , Ecuador 's talisman , was the quickest to react at the far post and poked the ball home from a few yards out as he scored in a sixth consecutive game for his country . Honduras ' burly central defender Victor Bernardez stung the palms of keeper Alexander Dominguez with an impressive long-range free kick just before halftime and Costly 's header struck the bar in stoppage time . The ball went into the net on a rebound , though the officials rightly ruled that Jerry Bengtson used his arm to score . After the interval , Felipe Caicedo seemed to be fouled by Honduras ' Maynor Figueroa in the box but the referee signaled play to continue . Honduras had another goal disallowed thanks to offside and Valencia soared above the defense to deposit his winning header home from Walter Ayovi 's pinpoint free kick in the 65th . Costly narrowly missed latching on to a low cross and Figueroa 's shot from distance was n't far off but Ecuador hung on . Although France is in pole position and Honduras needs a minor miracle to advance , nothing officially has been decided in the group . France plays Ecuador and Switzerland plays Honduras on Wednesday .
France takes command of Group E by crushing Switzerland 5 - 1 in Salvador . Karim Benzema scores again for France and also added two assists . France climbs to six points from two games , three more than Switzerland . Ecuador collects first win in history by beating Honduras 2 - 1 in Salvador .