When Andreas Weimann, a 30-year-old journeyman who plies his trade in the second tier of English football, scored his first ever international goal and gave Austria a surprising lead in the Nations League on Friday, the TV camera panned sheepishly to France superstar Kylian Mbappe.

The world's highest-paid player slumped ashen-faced in the dugout and was clearly not impressed with what was happening on the pitch.

Just like in their diabolical loss to Denmark and dreadful draw with Croatia days ago, France were a jumbled mess; too much showboating in attack, no coherent organization or leadership in defense, and mistakes galore. 

Antoine Griezmann carelessly lost the ball in midfield and gifted Austria a golden chance to push forward. Former Shanghai SIPG striker Marko Arnautovic duly obliged by passing a perfectly weighted ball to Konrad Laimer, who squared for Weimann to tap in the opener. It could have been worse if Austria had not wasted several glorious opportunities to double their advantage.

Things improved when Mbappe was introduced after the break as a replacement for Griezmann. The Paris St-Germain talisman had not fully recovered from the injury that forced him off against Denmark, but he still created all sorts of problems for Austria's tiring defense with his sensational pace.

And in a typical counter-attack, Mbappe combined with fellow substitute Christopher Nkunku and leveled the score by blasting a shot into the roof of the net.

Mbappe could have even turned the showdown on its head by grabbing a late winner. But Austrian goalkeeper Patrick Pentz produced an incredible save to deny the 23-year-old's close-range effort and made sure his team would not leave the Ernst-Happel Stadium with an undeserved loss.

The draw leaves France, who won last year's Nations League, still without a win three games into the new campaign. They are bottom of Group 1 and have a mountain to climb to avoid an embarrassing early exit.

However, with the Qatar World Cup just months away, France coach Didier Deschamps remained optimistic about the title holders' future. 

"From what we were able to do, I am satisfied," he told a post-game press conference. "The players should have been rewarded by the result. In the match, we have done very good things. Austria puts a lot of commitment, intensity. We had total control in the second half. We certainly lacked efficiency, it's a shame compared to what we did in the second half."

The defiance was echoed by Mbappe, whose team will next host Croatia as they look for their first three points. "There is never any need to worry. We should always be proud and just try to improve," he told TF1. 

"I'm not 100%, but if the coach needs me, I'll be there. We will work to try to win on Monday. There is just one game left before the holidays so I can force it a little bit."