The French team will be at the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 in Germany. Facing Belgium, Monday July 1st in Düsseldorf in the round of 16, the Blues won (1-0) thanks to an own goal by the unfortunate Jan Vertonghen. They now await Portugal or Slovenia.
Published on: 07/01/2024 – 7:51 p.m. Modified on: 07/01/2024 – 8:00 p.m.
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It is not flamboyant, the French game in this Euro 2024. In the first round, Didier Deschamps’ men floundered: one victory, two draws, two goals scored including one against his camp, in only 2nd place in group D. An observation similar to that of Belgium, very disappointing in the group E (one victory, one draw, one defeat, two goals scored).
Fate would have it that the French and Belgians would find themselves face to face in the round of 16 of this European Nations Championship, having already crossed swords in recent years. And in the Düsseldorf Arena, both teams demonstrated that they were definitely struggling to produce an attractive game.
To consultEuro 2024: find the calendar and results
A bland first act
Against the Red Devils, coach Deschamps relaunched Antoine Griezmann and Marcus Thuram in attack, Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembélé paying the price for this choice. An organization without miracle effect. The Belgians showed glaring limits and left the ball to the uninspired Blues, with one timid shot on target out of nine attempts during the first act. Griezmann and Thuram thwarted, and it was not much better from captain Kylian Mbappé against a Belgium that was attentive at the back, failing to be dangerous in attack.
After this sluggish first period, the two selections returned with a bit more desire. The French team tried its luck first with this curled shot from Aurélien Tchouaméni on which Koen Casteels lay down well. The frame then slipped away several times in front of Mbappé and Thuram. Defensively, Théo Hernandez made a saving return to tackle Timothy Castagne at the last minute in the area on the hour mark.
Kolo Muani strikes and Vertonghen misses
While Mike Maignan proved solid on a tight shot from Romelu Lukaku, his teammates lacked efficiency on the other side of the pitch for a long time. Again and again, French attempts flew off target, much to the frustration of the French fans present in Düsseldorf. As the final minutes approached, Maignan again repelled a heavy strike from De Bruyne. And then, the axe fell for Belgium.
Found in the box by N’Golo Kanté, Randal Kolo Muani, who came on for Thuram in the 62nd minute, was able to turn and unleash a shot on the turn. And the unfortunate veteran Jan Vertonghen deflected the trajectory of this shot which ended up in the back of the net (85th minute). Another own goal for the Blues in this Euro, but it once again makes them happy, because the last Belgian assaults have yielded nothing against a tight Blue rearguard.
History repeats itself again for Belgium, still not successful against France. The Euro ends there for the Red Devils. The Blues, for their part, will play their quarter-final on July 5 in Hamburg against Portugal or Slovenia.
