The France team will be at the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 in Germany. Opposed to Belgium, Monday July 1 in Düsseldorf in the round of 16, the Blues won (1-0) thanks to an own goal from the unfortunate Jan Vertonghen. They are now waiting for Portugal or Slovenia.
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The French game is not flamboyant in this Euro 2024In the first round, Didier Deschamps’ men struggled: one win, two draws, two goals scored including one own goal, in only 2nd place in Group D. A similar observation to that of Belgium, very disappointing in Group E (one win, one draw, one defeat, two goals scored).
Destiny wanted the French and Belgians to meet face to face in the round of 16 of this European Nations Championship, they who have already crossed swords in recent years. And in the Düsseldorf Arena, the two teams demonstrated that they definitely had difficulty producing an attractive game.
To consultEuro 2024: find the calendar and results
A tasteless first act
Against the Red Devils, coach Deschamps relaunched Antoine Griezmann and Marcus Thuram in attack, with Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembélé paying the price for this choice. An organisation without a miracle effect. The Belgians displayed glaring limitations and left the ball to the uninspired Blues, with one timid shot on target out of nine attempts during the first half. Griezmann and Thuram failed, and it was hardly better from captain Kylian Mbappé against a Belgium that was attentive at the back, if not 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 curling 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 hits and Vertonghen misses
If Mike Maignan was solid on a tight shot from Romelu Lukaku, his teammates have long lacked efficiency on the other side of the field. Again and again, French attempts have gone off-target, to the great frustration of the French supporters present in Düsseldorf. As the final minutes approached, Maignan again repelled a heavy strike from De Bruyne. And behind, the ax 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 will play their quarter-final on July 5 in Hamburg against Portugal or Slovenia.