DONETSK, Ukraine — Ukraine’s players were first drenched by a thunderstorm, then swamped by France’s clever, passing soccer.

The French ended a six-year drought for a win at a major tournament by beating Ukraine 2-0 yesterday in match delayed for nearly an hour because of a huge downpour, thunder and lightning.

Jeremy Menez and Yohan Cabaye scored early in the second half to help France’s to its first win in a major match since the semifinals of the 2006 World Cup.

“I hope the next win won’t take another six years because I will be long fired by then,” France coach Laurent Blanc said. “We dominated the game right from the start in terms of shots on target and possession.”

Zinedine Zidane’s head-butt and red card in the 2006 World Cup final brought the curtain down on France’s golden generation — and the French then failed to win a match at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup.

Blanc said he hopes the win is a sign France finally can be a contender again. The French extended their unbeaten run to 23 games.

“We scored twice and could have had more,” Blanc said. “We have a lot of potential.”

The match had only been going for five minutes when, the atrocious conditions forced the players off the field until the rain let up.