In a classic match for true football fans, France beat Belgium 1-0, with Randal Kolo Muani scoring the decisive goal later on. Belgium’s goalkeeper, Koen Casteels, was caught off guard, with the ball coming off Jan Vertonghen in what is labelled an own goal. This result means the French team are progressing to the quarterfinals in Hamburg this Friday.
Belgian and French fans coloured Düsseldorf with their excitement, travelling in vast numbers to watch the match. The pulsating atmosphere that had been ignited by fans from Georgia, Albania, and Scotland during Euro 2024 seemed to have dimmed a bit, leaving only the most resilient football countries still in the competition.
Antoine Griezmann seemed aware of the tense atmosphere and attempted to invigorate the crowd before the game, to a limited extent. There was also a hint of orange in the stadium, indicating the Dutch fans who probably didn’t foresee their team’s defeat to Austria at the group stage.
This Belgian squad, valued at approximately €600 million, is worth half as much as the French team. A significant chunk of this figure, around €180 million, is attributed to Kylian Mbappé who, despite a setback due to a nose injury, is getting back to his top form.
The match saw the two neighbouring teams cancelling out each other until the 85th minute. Both Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku missed opportunities to score. The first half saw France let Belgium dominate before Griezmann and Aurélien Tchouaméni initiated a series of attacks, forcing De Bruyne and Lukaku into defensive roles.
Caution was of the essence as referee Glenn Nyberg didn’t hesitate to hand out yellow cards. Tchouaméni was penalised for arguing over a Mbappé shot that deflected off Amadou Onana, while Griezmann was warned for tripping Jérémy Doku, just as the Manchester City winger was making his way into the French penalty area.
Caught off guard by a sudden De Bruyne move from a free, Mike Maignan was left panic-stricken, hastily clearing the ball away. Adrien Rabiot received a third yellow card from the strict Swedish referee after an incident involving Doku.
Gradually, the French squad began to assert their dominance. A 40-metre arced cross-field pass from Tchouameni found Jules Koundé, who swiftly controlled the ball before delivering a curled cross, met by Marcus Thuram’s powerful header – a wide miss. Yet the message was straightforward: failure on the Belgian side was absent, yet the elegant prowess of Deschamps’ team was an ever-present menace.
Tchouameni later fired a long-distance shot that lacked the precision that led to the goal that ousted England from the 2022 World Cup. Mbappé had been barely perceptible until Carrasco and Doku sought to provoke him. This was a testament to the error of their ways when he effortlessly bypassed them, only for his back pass to be met once again by a fierce, yet off-target, Tchouameni attack.
The onus was on France’s Real Madrid-bound prodigy to spark a sense of urgency into the match. True to form, the first direct threat to the goal after half-time occurred when Mbappé outsmarted Carrasco, baited De Bruyne into committing a penalty before sending a deadly strike soaring over Casteels’ bar.
As the game reached the 60-minute mark, Hernandez executed a by-the-book slide tackle to disrupt a smooth Belgian counter-attack prompted by De Bruyne’s pass to Carrasco. Maignan acknowledged Hernandez’s robustness with a chest bump. With the score still at 0-0, the deadlock needed to be broken by some superstar worth €100 million.
Even with the deadlock, it was clear how more cohesive both midfields were compared to England. Tchouameni left no doubt that he won’t hesitate to take a shot when an opportunity arises.
The inevitable Lukaku assault occurred with twenty minutes left on the clock. Orel Mangala, coming on as a substitute, galloped down the left flank before setting up Lukaku to challenge Maignan – a challenge the similarly robust goalkeeper was equal to.
At last, the seemingly cautious encounter came to life as William Saliba boldly moved forward to fire France’s 14th attempt, which sadly missed the target. However, an interesting observation at this juncture was that France had only managed two shots on target, leading to a slim 2-1 advantage.
Time was slowly running out when Mbappé’s effort increased the tally to 15.
Belgium had a golden opportunity in the 83rd minute when De Bruyne, due to his well-executed diagonal run, found himself unable to get the better of Maignan from a 20-yard distance – his reaction was indeed worth a thousand expressions.
Through with toying around with the game, Theo Hernández emerged threateningly from the left while a swift exchange between Griezmann and N’Golo Kanté gave way for Kolo Muani to clumsily direct the ball past Casteels. The UEFA was quick to attribute it to Vertonghen’s error. With a trail of 157 national team appearances at the age of 37, the last thing Vertonghen will want is to be known for this unfortunately timed mistake.
However, this goal perfectly summarised the state of the match, permitting France to steadily advance, all whilst operating at what seemed like a relaxed third gear, and maintaining a promising momentum.