After two somewhat shocking results that came earlier on in the day with Ukraine and Belgium both losing to lesser opposition – by statistical ranking anyway – France were hoping not to follow in their footsteps.
Luckily for them, the joint tournament favourites who opened their Euro 2024 account with a narrow 1-0 victory over Austria, with Maximilian Wöber’s header in his own net the only goal of the game.
That wasn’t the main story of the game though, with both sides putting blood (literally), sweat and tears into what turned out to be a thrilling battle between two of the world’s top-25 teams.
As it happened
It was a welcome return to international action for N’Golo Kanté, who, up until the two pre-Euro friendlies, hadn’t represented his country since June 2022, missing the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with a hamstring injury. But it was France captain Kylian Mbappé whose name was on the tip of the tongue very early on.
Using his quick burst of pace almost immediately, his opening shot – registering at 113 km/h – in the eighth minute went just wide into the side netting, thanks to a hand from Austrian goalkeeper Patrick Pentz, which forced the first corner of the game, though France made little of it.
Embed from Getty ImagesAn effort from Theo Hernandez in the 12th minute strayed just wide of the far post after a surging run into the box was calling out for a Frenchman to latch onto the end of, but to no avail once again.
The pace of France on both wings was evident early on, with Maximilian Wöber having no choice but to bring down Ousmane Dembélé as he was heading further and further to the goal, receiving the game’s first yellow card after just 16 minutes.
It took 23 minutes for Austria to get their first corner of the game, to which Mike Maignan came out and valiantly claimed, before setting France off on the counter, though Hernández was caught hesitating and fell over the ball, bringing such attack to an abrupt close.
Having remained goalless at 0-0 after half an hour it was the longest game so far at Euro 2024 to do so. Though France occupied 73.3% of the possession after 10 minutes, by the end of the 30th that had dropped to only 56% – showing Austria had well and truly grown into the game.
Christoph Baumgartner came close to handing Austria the lead in the 35th minute after Marcel Sabitzer’s layoff fell into the path of the RB Leipzig man, though his shot was saved by Maignan – yet no corner was given to the shock of the Austrian fans behind the goal.
Embed from Getty ImagesThis refereeing error would cost Austria dearly, with the resulting goal kick being fed – eventually – into Mbappé’s path. His persistence at driving into the box paid off when his cross from the byline forced Austria into an error, and Leeds United player Wöber’s header ended up in the back of his own net – just 2 minutes and 20 seconds after Baumgartner’s effort at the other end.
While Austria responded positively, they just could not break through France’s back line, which included William Saliba. Arsenal’s defender was perhaps a surprise inclusion in manager Didier Deschamp’s squad, having not been the favourable centre-back in his previous squads.
It could have been two on the stroke of half-time with Antoine Griezmann’s floated ball over the top feeding into Mbappé’s path, but Pentz came out and made himself big, and claimed the ball with authority… eventually.
The first forty-five minutes showed that Mbappé had five touches in the opposition box – the most of anyone in the game. While France had the 1-0 advantage at the break, Austria were not out of the game yet.
The second-half started with a bang – at least for Griezmann – whose head clashed with the advertising hoardings which forced him to receive treatment in the form of a head bandage for a cut, which he later pulled off.
Mbappé, who had arguably been the best player on the pitch at this point, was prematurely dreaming of his first Euros goal. Having navigated past his defender with relative ease, he missed the one on the one with the keeper, sending it wide. The wait for that first goal continues…
The hour mark brought with it a triple substitution for Austria, with former Stoke City and West Ham striker Marko Arnautovic coming on, along with Gernot Trauner and Patrick Wimmer replacing Max Wober, Michael Gregoritsch and Florian Grillitsch.
There was an Austrian penalty shout when Sabitzer was caught between Saliba and Dayot Upamecano, but the referee was adamant that there was no foul, and VAR agreed, with the game moving swiftly on.
It appeared that the substitutions had sparked off a scintillating end-to-end contest, with chances at both ends. A brilliant run to the byline from Hernández before a cut back across a virtually empty goal saw Griezmann inches away from getting a toe to it, before Jules Koundé’s follow-up effort was blocked.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe old Kanté we grew to know and love when in the Premier League made an appearance too, rolling back the years and popping up in both attacking and defensive positions in the second half. He made a strong case for being the game’s man of the match, with Mbappé falling away in the second half.
France felt it was time to make changes of their own with 20 minutes left to play, with Dembélé and Adrien Rabiot making way for Randal Kolo Muani and Eduardo Camavinga.
Austria had a chance late on after Konrad Laimer of Bayern Munich played a through ball which Baumgartner tried to play on to – but the weight of the pass was a little heavy, and despite making contact with the ball, he crashed straight through into Maignan. A foul was given in France’s favour, with a yellow card also being brandished to the Austrian striker to rub salt into the wounds.
Austria’s best chance perhaps came on the break from a France free-kick on the edge of the area after Laimer was deemed to have put a hand to Mbappé’s face, but 33-year-old Kanté was there right again to track back and clear the danger.
In all honesty, though, play should have perhaps been halted with Mbappé going down with a head injury after his head went into the shoulder of Kevin Danso, which caused a lot of blood-loss from the nose and a change of jersey. Upon further inspection, it looked like a broken nose, but that can only be speculated at this time.
With the referee not stopping the game to allow Mbappé to be subbed, the French captain re-entered the pitch, clutching his nose and all, before sitting down on the pitch… to which he was given a yellow card in a mind-boggling turn of events.
Eventually, that would be Mbappé’s last contribution of the match, though, with Olivier Giroud coming on to replace him in the 90th minute. He made history by becoming the oldest French player to play at the Euros, surpassing his strike partner Marcus Thuram’s dad, Lilian Thuram.
A late flurry of chances presented themselves to both sides, but each just lacked that little bit of quality with their end product, and a case could be made for the Austrian’s to feel a little bit hard done by with that result.
Everyone was out on their feet after the final whistle sounded, but while it’s a heart-wrenching loss for Austria, France get their first win of Euro 2024, and go second in the group behind the Netherlands.
Follow the post-match reaction and catch up on yesterday’s other fixture in Group D here on fromTheSpot.
The lineups
AUT: Pentz, Mwene, Wöber, Danso, Posch, Grillitsch, Seiwald, Sabitzer, Baumgartner, Laimer, Gregoritsch
FRA: Maignan, Hernández, Saliba, Upamecano, Koundé, Rabiot, Kanté, Thuram, Griezmann, Dembélé, Mbappé
