European Championship victory against Belgium
France remains without a goal of its own at the European Championship – but is in the quarter-finals
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France in the quarter-finals – The decisive own goal by Belgian Vertonghen in video
France is in the quarter-finals of the European Football Championship after an own goal by Belgium. In the 85th minute, Jan Vertonghen deflects a shot by the Frenchman Kolo Muani into the net. Watch the video of the goal.
The French national team has reached the quarter-finals of the European Championship. Kylian Mbappé’s team once again demonstrated its great weakness in finishing, but prevailed against Belgium after a late own goal.
In their lucky opening victory against Austria, an own goal gave the French a 1-0 lead. The second group match at the European Championship against the Netherlands ended completely goalless, and against Poland, Kylian Mbappé scored from the penalty spot.
France had advanced to the round of 16 without scoring a goal from open play, and that remains the case after the 1-0 (0-0) win against Belgium. The team continued its minimalist football at the European Championships and trembled its way into the quarter-finals. The two-time European champions, led by masked man Kylian Mbappé, won in Düsseldorf quite happily. The decision was made by an own goal by Jan Vertonghen, who deflected a shot by ex-Bundesliga professional Randal Kolo Muani in the 85th minute.
“We had plenty of chances, but we didn’t get rewarded and we’re still happy,” said Kolo Muani. “We wanted possession of the ball. That worked. We’re moving on.”
Randal Kolo Muani and Antoine Griezmann celebrate the winning goal
Source: REUTERS
Despite only scoring three goals so far at this European Championship, the French remain undefeated in regular time tournament matches since the 0-1 defeat against Germany at the 2014 World Cup. The Équipe Tricolore will now play in the quarter-finals in Hamburg on Friday. However, they will be without midfielder Adrien Rabiot from Juventus Turin, who received his second yellow card of the tournament.
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Belgium, on the other hand, has to return home early, even under German coach Domenico Tedesco. The eternal dark horse favorite, led by superstar Kevin De Bruyne, had already failed in the preliminary round of the 2022 World Cup.
France does not hit the goal
The eagerly awaited, supposedly top duel quickly turned out to be a bore. Both teams seamlessly continued their largely uninspired and disappointing performances from the preliminary round. France once again made far too little of the technical skills in the squad and played with too little tempo.
“Of course you have to put the things in the goal when you have the chance,” said national coach Didier Deschamps, but otherwise refrained from criticism: “It worked. We had more chances and we were rewarded. We are now one step further and will enjoy it. Let’s keep it up.”
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Top star Mbappé, who had broken his nose in the same place two weeks earlier during the 1-0 win against Austria, remained extremely inconspicuous. The Belgians lacked the necessary precision in attack, and the great gap in performance within the team was once again obvious. Captain and star player Kevin De Bruyne repeatedly dropped back very far in order to stimulate the build-up of play. As a result, the Manchester City attacker lost a lot of his goal threat.
Kolo Muani makes the difference
The French had their best chance after just over 34 minutes, when former Gladbach player Marcus Thuram headed the ball just wide of the goal. Up until then, Belgium had looked a little more dangerous. Overall, however, the game remained far too static and uneventful on both sides before the break.
It became clear once again why both teams only managed two goals each in the preliminary round. It was shocking how often both attacking lines failed to score despite having a clear shot on goal.
The partly undignified game continued after the break. France was now dominant and had several shots on the Belgian goal. But whenever things had to get going quickly, the tempo was slowed down on both sides and the stars were unable to find their game at all. The former Bundesliga striker Thuram also played very disappointingly once again and did not live up to his potential. The Inter Milan striker had to leave the field after around an hour and was replaced by the former Frankfurt player Kolo Muani.
In the 83rd minute, De Bruyne’s powerful shot was saved by France’s goalkeeper Mike Maignan. On the other side, Kolo Muani relieved the French coach Didier Deschamps with his team’s 20th shot on goal. Defender Vertonghen deflected his shot unstoppably.
