The French national football team beat the Belgian team with a minimal score and reached the quarterfinals of the European Championship taking place in Germany. Sports sums up the results of the not so bright, but still intense match in Dusseldorf and sees off home the “Red Devils”, who failed Euro 2024, as well as the last World Cup.
The sign is amazing. But there is a nuance, July 2018. The French and Belgians reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in Russia and met in St. Petersburg. The match ended with a score of 1:0 in favor of the “tricolors” — then Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and N'Golo Kante went to Moscow and, 20 years later, returned France to the title of the strongest team on the planet.
Six years have passed. The teams whose paths crossed in the 1/2 finals of the Nations League in 2021 (France was again stronger) meet again in the playoffs of a major international tournament. True, completely different teams reached the Euro playoffs, hardly similar to the gangs that came to Krestovsky Island back then. France faded and resonated in the media only because of Mbappe’s nose injury and the mask on the leader’s face. Belgium, after the failure at the 2022 World Cup, did not change at all and could have been left without the playoffs if the Ukrainians had converted at least one point in the final round of the group stage. But it worked out. The Red Devils and ex-Spartak coach Domenico Tedesco in the 1/8 finals, although, apart from the terrible bad luck of Romelu Lukaku (three canceled goals), the Belgians were not remembered for anything.
However, even despite this meeting at the Merkur Spiel arena in Düsseldorf was seen as the loudest sign of the first stage of the playoffs.
Ricochet came to the aid of the favorite. The fans did not expect a large number of goals in this match, since there were no prerequisites for this. It's not about Lukaku's «curse» at all. The teams scored only four goals between them in the group stage, one of them an own goal. And they only conceded a goal. So it’s not surprising that in the first 45 minutes we saw only a couple of truly dangerous moments. Marcus Thuram headed the Belgians' goal and Aurélien Tchouameni fired from a lethal position, but both times went wide. French fans might have been nervous after Kevin De Bruyne's free kick — Mike Maignan regrouped and kicked the ball.
It was also striking that Mbappe, the captain and main star of the French national team, seemed to disappear on the field in the first half did not strain the Red Devils' defence. Which, however, the favorites seriously exhausted before the break.
Didier Deschamps' players, having had a rest, did not betray themselves: chances appeared for Mbappe, who was so fed up with the black mask, and goalkeeper Kuhn Castells had to enter the game and avert the threat after Tchouameni's shot. Plus Thuram charged above the crossbar. However, Belgium finally got involved. Lukaku hit the ball for the first time, De Bruyne took over the game, but again Maignan was on the spot. It seemed that in such a tight and even game, extra time could not be avoided. And then, perhaps, it will come to a penalty.
But then the main scorer of the German Euro came to the fore. And his name is own goal. In the 85th minute, Randal Kolo Muani either crossed or shot from the left corner of the penalty area, but the ball hit Jan Vertonghen and, changing direction, dived into the net of the disoriented Castells' goal. In 2018, Samuel Umtiti, who is no longer playing for the national team, decided everything — now luck has come to the rescue. And the correct replacement for Deschamps: the only change the Frenchman made during the match was the entry of Kolo Muani instead of Orel Mangal.
Euro 202401 July 2024 • starts at 19:00Completed
FranceFrance1 : 0
BelgiumBelgium
85' • Jan Vertonghen (A)
The Belgians had little time left to save themselves, and they could not take advantage of it.
The Red Devils blundered again and were unable to make amends for the disaster in Qatar. It seems that there is nothing left of the team that took bronze at the Russian World Cup — like Italy, Belgium needs urgent changes. Will they start with a change of coach? «Squadra Azzurra» continues to believe in Luciano Spalletti — let's see if Tedesco still has confidence. br>Remake of the Euro 2016 final In the quarter finals of the European Championship, the French team will perform on July 5 in Hamburg. The opponent will be determined a little later: at 22:00 Moscow time in Frankfurt am Main, the Portuguese must confidently beat the Slovenian team and join the “tricolor” in the next round.
If there is no sensation, on Friday we will see a repeat of the dramatic final of the French Euro from eight years ago. Cristiano Ronaldo's tears after injury, the multitude of unrealized chances for the championship hosts and Eder's golden goal in the 109th minute, which made both CreeRo and the whole of Portugal happy…
