Netherlands 0-0 France: English VAR sparks controversy in first goalless EURO2024 clash

Kylian Mbappé was an unused substitute as France were held to a goalless draw by the Netherlands in Leipzig, with the result leaving Poland mathematically unable to progress from the EURO2024 group stages.

Xavi Simons thought he’d bagged a late winner for the Oranje, but the youngster was cruelly denied by a controversial VAR check that judged Denzel Dumfries to be impeding the goalkeeper from an offside position.

As it happened

Les Bleus clearly missed their captain in Leipzig, with Kylian Mbappé absent after breaking his nose in France’s EURO2024 opener against Austria. The void he left in the front line was clear for all to see: chances were squandered regularly, not least when Adrien Rabiot bizarrely opted to square for Antoine Griezmann rather than slotting home himself in the first half.

The forward blasted wide soon after, and then shot directly at Bart Verbruggen. For the best part of 70 minutes, the key takeaway from this match looked as though it would be that France need Mbappé – this was the 7th match they have played without him in the past two years; they’ve failed to win any of them.

But as the clock neared the final twenty minutes, the storylines surrounding Mbappé’s absence were quickly forgotten. Instead, a controversial VAR decision – and the longest of the tournament by far – saw Xavi Simons denied a Dutch opener in cruel fashion.

His low driven effort from the edge of the box evaded Mike Maignan, with the goalkeeper failing to dive or make any concerted attempt to produce a save. Simons wheeled away in euphoric celebration, only to be denied by the linesman’s flag: Denzel Dumfries was, in the eyes of the assistant referee, interfering with play from an offside position.

(Photo by Boris Streubel – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

And so began an agonisingly long VAR check – one that served as a reminder of just how bad we have it in the Premier League, with Stuart Attwell guiding the VAR team that upheld the initial on-field decision of no goal.

Whether the goal should have stood or not is up for debate. There’s no denying that Dumfries was offside by quite some distance, but whether he truly interfered with play is up in the air. The fact that a goalless draw has stolen the headlines in this manner says it all: VAR has worked so well throughout the first week of EURO2024, but crumbles when English referees are tasked with operating the technology.

Still, it is not the worst result for either side. They head into their final Group D outings with four points each – Poland have now had their elimination confirmed and will merely be playing for pride when they face les Bleus in Dortmund on Tuesday.