5 things we learnt from France 1-0 Belgium

France eventually saw off Belgium to progress to the quarterfinals in a lethargic game in Düsseldorf tonight. The match played out in a nervy fashion and wasn’t a thriller for the neutral – it was a Jan Vertonghen own goal that eventually broke the deadlock in the 85th minute. The encounter will prompt some soul-searching certainly for Belgium, and possibly France too.

Here are five things we learned from the encounter.

Great squads can play painfully dull football

The elephant in the room has to be dealt with first: despite the hype, neither team lived up to hopes or expectations tonight. France sat among the favourites going into the tournament and have some of the greatest players in the world, let alone the competition – but they registered only two shots on target. Belgium, though admittedly at the end of their golden generation, still have some high quality names in Kevin de Bruyne and Jérémy Doku. However, they also had only two shots on target.

In the first half, there was only one shot on target in the opening half-hour and the commentators barely raised their voices until Marcus Thuram’s chance in the 33rd minute. The pace picked up slightly in the second half but still lacked the end-to-end quality that has made many of EURO2024’s games so thrilling. Once again, the most anticipated clashes and teams of the tournament have fallen short of expectations.

Belgium fail to find attacking formula

Domenico Tedesco’s side have now exited the tournament with only two goals to their name, both against Romania – and neither for all-time leading goalscorer Romelu Lukaku. Belgium notched up only 12 touches in the opposition box today, with 5 shots for their efforts and only 2 on target. With experienced players like Lukaku – who had the highest goals-per-cap ratio of any competitor arriving at EURO2024 – as well as young talents like Jérémy Doku, they should not have struggled this much in front of goal.

They’re out of time to work it out in this tournament, and will need a real inquest into where they turn next as they head home. Which leads us to…

Belgium’s golden generation is now surely over

Many had already attributed a 2022 date of death to Belgium’s ‘golden generation’ after their group stage exit from the World Cup in Qatar; kinder onlookers said they’d have one last dance in Germany. If that was the case, the music has definitely stopped now. By the time Tedesco (if he’s still in charge) picks his squad for the 2026 World Cup, Lukaku will be 32, de Bruyne 35, Jan Vertonghen 39, Yannick Carrasco 32 – it’s fair to say whoever is in charge is going to need to start looking elsewhere.

There are promising prospects coming through, the most obvious being Doku. The winger has been one of their brightest sparks in a dull tournament and, at only 22 and under the capable stewardship of Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, he is likely to be a source of hope for Belgian fans as they work out where to go from here.

Lacking ruthlessness could cost France

Moving back to the winning team, Didier Deschamps’ France can breathe a sigh of relief after making the step to the quarterfinals. It’s worth noting that they’re not well acquainted with exits at that stage in recent years – every time they’ve reached the quarterfinals of a major tournament since 2016, they have gone on to the final.

However, the performance today leaves them plenty of room to improve. The goal that sent them through was again an own goal, this time from Vertonghen, meaning France are still yet to score from open play this tournament. They have two own goals and a penalty to their name – which is a low tally considering the likes of Kylian Mbappé, Thuram, and Antoine Griezmann grace their lineup. A real problem is a lack of clinicalness in front of goal; they racked up 19 shots and 36 touches in the Belgian box today, but only two shots on target and the one that went in wasn’t even from their own player. If they are to match up to spectators’ expectations for this tournament, Deschamps’ men might need a bit of target practice this week.

France balance attacking woes with defensive strength

It’s obviously not all bad for France – though their attacking leaves much to be desired, today’s match saw them keep a clean sheet and they have only conceded one goal (a penalty) all tournament. Crucial to that strong defensive record has been William Saliba; he had more of a chance to shine today in a game where N’Golo Kanté’s recovery tackles weren’t as important, and instead it was the Arsenal man’s composed and solid performance that stood out.

Mike Maignan put in a respectable display between the sticks again – he wasn’t called on frequently but reacted well when he was needed. He rushed out early in the game to clear a loose ball that would otherwise have resulted in a one-on-one, and made one notably acrobatic/bizarre save with his feet from a freekick in the 24th minute. If they can keep this defensive record up, all they’ll need is a few late chances at the other end to go all the way – but Didier Deschamps will not want to rely on that, and neither will his players.

Follow reaction to the match, and every other game of EURO2024, here on FromTheSpot and on our X account.