Five minutes from time, a substitute strike by Randal Kolo Muani forced an own goal, giving France a nervous but well-earned 1-0 victory over a dismal Belgium in the Euro 2024 round of sixteen on Monday.
The most of the running in a cagey match was done by France, but they were careless with their finishing until a wonderful sequence of passes, capped off by N’Golo Kanté, ultimately opened up space for Kolo Muani to tuck in his shot off Jan Vertonghen’s knee.
France will now play the victor of Portugal vs. Slovenia on Monday in the quarterfinals on Friday in Hamburg.
After two own goals and a penalty kick by Kylian Mbappé in their first four games, France is failed to score from open play in the tournament. It was an appropriately shoddy final for a lacklustre contest.
In his quest to become the first man to win the World Cup and the European Championship in both his roles as coach and player, Deschamps is well aware that success in competitions is more about how far you can go than how well you play.
The game, which included the two formally top teams in the world, France and Belgium, was lacklustre as they just managed two goals apiece in their three games to limp into the knockout stage via final group-stage draws.
Belgium, who at times played at a slower pace than a stroll, obviously intended to eliminate any chance of speed from the match. Kevin De Bruyne frequently played right in front of his back four.
After 34 minutes, Jules Koundé whipped in a curling cross that recalled striker Marcus Thuram headed wide, giving France their greatest chance of the first half. Thuram then spent the next two minutes criticising himself for the miss.
Soon after the interval, Aurélien Tchouaméni forced Koen Casteels into his first stop of the day, and the ever-vivacious Mbappé miskicked a good opportunity as France started stringing passes together.
Just as Yannick Carrasco was about to shoot, a rare Belgian push was broken up by a magnificent tackle by Theo Hernández. Romelu Lukaku and De Bruyne then forced fine saves from Mike Maignan.
William Saliba and Mbappé both lit up the scoreboard, but France’s poor finishing continued until Kolo Muani scored a late goal to win it.
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