Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry ensured France earned a place in the last 16 after they struggled to a 2-0 win over Togo in Cologne on Friday.

Two second-half goals gave Les Blues the victory they needed to make the knockout stages but they struggled to break down Togo's resistance in the first half and never really looked like a world-class side.

David Trezeguet came close to giving them the lead twice in the opening ten minutes, first when he fired wide after a neat turn on the edge of the area and then when he forced Togo goalkeeper Kossi Agassa into the first save of the game with a firm header.

Then on 14 minutes, he thought he had opened the scoring after tapping in Franck Ribery's cross, but he was ruled offside.

And as the game swung from end to end, the French had to be careful at the other end with Togo coming close through Mohamed Kader, Moustapha Salifou and Emmanuel Adebayor.

France continued to press with Mikael Silvestre and Trezeguet again coming close before Ribery blasted over the bar after Thierry Henry had set him up with a golden opportunity on 27.

Trezeguet was in once more before half-time, following up Florent Malouda's rocket from outside the area, but Agassa denied him again, and the flag was up for offside anyway.

The second half continued on the same theme with Ribery missing another good chance before Vieira finally broke the deadlock on 55 with a fine shot on the turn from Ribery's pass.

And just six minutes later, Henry made it two to finally ease the French nerves when he received Claude Makelele's pass and turned to fire into the corner.

France cruised to victory from there although Trezeguet still could not get the goal he had been chasing all night.