It was not the most exciting match of the competition but at the end of a breathless suspense, France got away with a big thorn in its side in Düsseldorf. As against Austria for their entry into this German Euro, the Blues defeated Belgium by the smallest of gaps (1-0). A goal from Jan Verthongen against his camp, caused by an attempt by Randal Kolo Muani, got the better of the pugnacity of the Red Devils in this bitter and tense round of 16. For the quarter-finals, France will face the winner of the upcoming duel between Portugal and Slovenia on Friday at 9 p.m.
Not everything was perfect, but the essentials were achieved for Didier Deschamps’ men. Solid defensively, the French team did not concede a goal against a Belgium team that looked formidable on paper with its striker Romelu Lukaku, admittedly not in good form since the start of the competition, and its captain Kevin De Bruyne. In reality, both men came up against a decisive Mike Maignan in turn. The Milan goalkeeper first distinguished himself with an initial save from a free kick taken by De Bruyne (24th), then with two reflex saves to block the path of Lukaku (70th), then the repeat offender De Bruyne (83rd). Aside from these three hot alerts, France did not experience any cold sweats.
Rabiot suspended, Mbappé imprecise
Concerning the offensive performance of the Blues, it proved to be very unsuccessful. As against Poland, the offensives were numerous. But as against Poland, the French collective was lacking in finishing. With twenty shots in total for only two shots on target, the French had to wait before finding the fault of the goal guarded by Koen Casteels. In turn, Marcus Thuram with a header (18th, 34th) and Aurélien Tchouaméni (39th, 45th) were unable to adjust their sights in the first period.
After the break, Kylian Mbappé finally got away from the excellent Wout Faes to shoot several times on goal, but all his attempts went over the bar (54th, 56th, 78th). The same for William Saliba, clumsy (75th) but agile when defending on Lukaku. In the end, only Aurélien Tchouaméni (49th) forced Casteels to dive to avoid conceding the first goal of the match. Unfortunately for the Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper, it was a shot from substitute Kolo Muani, well helped by Vertonghen, which led to the early elimination of the Red Devils (86th, 1-0). The only downside: Adrien Rabiot’s suspension for the upcoming quarter-final. A lesser evil compared to the Belgian disarray.
