France 1-0 Belgium: Les Bleus advance after another underwhelming display

France left it late to reach the quarterfinals of EURO2024, with Jan Vertonghen’s 85th minute own goal enough to send them through in Dusseldorf.

In what was more a war of attrition than a free-flowing football match, Les Bleus have come to the end of a fourth game without any of their own players scoring from open play.

The result means France will face either Slovenia or Portugal in the next round, while Belgium will once again head home with their tails between their legs.

As it happened

Had this game been played between two lesser sides, it would be deemed a cagey affair; between two sides of the size of France and Belgium, though, it’ll inevitably be dubbed as a chess match. Two masters at work, patiently looking for openings, but being thwarted by the other.

But that oversells it a tad. It wasn’t dull per se, but these are two of the biggest footballing nations in the world. They’re ranked second and third respectively. What should’ve been an opus was more a contest of church mice. It was quiet.

Maybe that should’ve been expected. France had scored only twice up to this point, finishing second below an excellent Austria side in Group D. For Belgium’s part, they scraped through Group E with as many points as last-placed Ukraine. They’ve both flattered to deceive all tournament.

This game was no different. Six years ago, these two sides faced off in the World Cup semifinals. France took the lead and sat back, inviting Belgian pressure for a goal that never came. This time round, it was the opposite – but there was no opening goal to speak of. Not in the first half at least.

The first shot on target came ten minutes in, when Antoine Griezmann had a go from just outside the box, but his effort rolled harmlessly into the arms of Koen Casteels. As far as shots on target in that first half were concerned, that was it. Every other French effort, be it Marcus Thuram’s pair of headers or Aurélien Tchouaméni’s duo of ferocious pot-shots were invariably wide or over.

That speaks to what Belgium did well in the first half. They sat back, they were disciplined and they were disruptive. It was very awkward for France to create any clear-cut chances, with Amadou Onana particularly good at breaking up attacks before a final pass could be made.

When that final pass did come, it was typically off the mark. Jules Koundé was a good outlet down the right-hand side but his crosses were hit and miss. Creator-in-chief Griezmann was really quite toothless.

And by sitting back, Belgium took out France’s best player at the EUROs so far, as N’Golo Kanté’s biggest strengths were totally nullified: you can’t win the ball back if your team almost always has the ball.

The Red Devils did come forward every now and then, usually through the same route. A long ball forward would hit Jérémy Doku who essentially had to do it all himself. His unique brand of trickery won freekicks after rash challenges from both Griezmann and Koundé, but he never had the support he needed to cause real problems.

That was the first half. The second was crying out for a moment of quality which had so far eluded all 22 superstars on the pitch.

It was a lively enough start. All France, as was the case in the opening 45 minutes, and their early chances were more of the same; a Tchouaméni shot from distance, this time saved by Casteels and a third wayward header from Thuram. His shooting really was more Lilian than Marcus today; no wonder he was hooked in favour of Randal Kolo Muani.

Cometh the hour, cometh the biggest chance of the match – but it wasn’t a French one. Kevin De Bruyne, who had been really quiet until then, drove forward and played a wonderful ball through to Yannick Carrasco. With acres in front of him, he had a one-on-one with Mike Maignan to think about. But he thought for too long, allowing Theo Hernández to dart back and make a remarkable recovery challenge. It does rather reflect the first hour of this game that the best chance of it didn’t even result in a shot.

Then there’s the question of where Romelu Lukaku was. He’d had an unlucky tournament, watching semi-automated offside technology chalk off all three of his goals. He didn’t get a chance in this one until the 72^nd minute when De Bruyne cut it back to him to strike goalwards. This time it was Maignan denying him, getting down very quickly to divert his driven effort out of play for a corner, Belgium’s first of the game, which came to nothing.

Belgium did grow into the game a tad, but their gameplan didn’t particularly change. They still sat back and they still waited for breakaways. But France continued to dominate the ball – 55% of it to be precise – so they still looked the side more likely to make the breakthrough.

Then, 85 minutes in, it happened. They worked the ball around the edge of the area as they had done all game, but this time there was penetration – and a fair slice of luck. It was a simple ball into the area from Kanté. Kolo Muani received it, spun and fired his effort goalwards. But it wasn’t him who got the last touch, with the knee of Jan Vertonghen wickedly spinning the ball past an already diving Casteels. It was horrible for Belgium, but the piece of luck France had been crying out for.

A French player had finally scored from open play at EURO2024; except, not quite. It was an own goal. Les Bleus (or rather, wearing white for the third time already this tournament, Les Blancs), have scored three goals thus far: two own goals and a penalty. With the firepower at their disposal, that’s really quite remarkable. But a goal is a goal, and it was this one which sent them to the quarterfinals.

So, Belgium bow out yet again, and if their golden generation hadn’t already fizzled out into copper, it certainly has now.

It’s France who go through as ever, and as usual, it was by any means necessary. Their underwhelming tournament will continue into the quarterfinals, and just like the England side which did the same last night, the question of style or substance has been answered loud and clear.

You can keep up with the business end of EURO2024 right here at FromTheSpot.

The lineups

FRA: Maignan; Hernández, Saliba, Upamecano, Koundé; Tchouaméni, Rabiot, Kanté; Griezmann, Mbappé, Thuram

BEL: Casteels; Theate, Vertonghen, Faes, Castagne; Carrasco, Onana, De Bruyne, Doku; Lukaku, Openda