France edge past Belgium 1-0 to reach Euro 2024 quarterfinals

On Monday, France defeated a dismal Belgium 1-0 in the Euro 2024 last-16 thanks to a deflected strike by substitute Randal Kolo Muani in the 85th minute, which was recorded as an own goal by Jan Vertonghen. The victory was tense but well-earned.

In a tense match, France dominated possession but finished the play carelessly. However, N'Golo Kante's excellent series of passes eventually opened up space for Kolo Muani, who turned and blasted a mishit shot past goalkeeper Koen Casteels, leaving the goalie caught off guard.

France will now play the victor of Portugal vs. Slovenia on Monday in the quarterfinals on Friday in Hamburg.

With two own goals and a penalty from Kylian Mbappe in their four games thus far, France has failed to score from open play at the tournament. It was an appropriately shabby finale for a lackluster contest.

Naturally, coach Didier Deschamps had a different opinion. It's stunning. Although things were tight, we relished our ownership and had more options," he remarked.

We achieved a great deal of success. We must cherish it, as it's quite an accomplishment. They're going home; we're in the quarterfinals. It's a beneficial habit.

Officially ranked second in the world (France) and third in the world (Belgium), these teams seemed incredibly conservative in attack as they barely managed two goals between them in their three group stage matches, limping into the knockout stage.

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 Kounde whipped in a curling cross that recalled striker Marcus Thuram headed wide, giving France their best chance of the first half. Thuram then spent the next two minutes criticizing himself for the miss.

Soon after the interval, Aurelien Tchouameni forced Koen Casteels into his first save of the day, and the ever-vivacious Mbappe 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 Hernandez. Romelu Lukaku and De Bruyne then forced fine saves from Mike Maignan.

Before Kolo Muani's decisive intervention, both William Saliba and Mbappe were flaming hot, continuing the terrible finishing that has plagued France's whole campaign.

Kolo Muani, who came just inches short of becoming a national hero in the 2022 World Cup final when Argentine keeper Emi Martinez got a toe to what would have been his winning goal, said, "We're enjoying this, we pushed hard, we had a lot of attempts but we were missing the target."

"I got lucky (on the goal), the coach told me to bring my energy, to bring danger with my speed."

Belgium's strategy of sitting back and absorbing placed them on the back foot, even though they did produce a couple of fantastic late chances when the score was still 0-0. It was a depressingly modest exit for them.

"We made every effort to prevail. Extra time was five minutes away," stated De Bruyne. "We didn't have many opportunities. There isn't enough time to respond when they score.

"There was a deflection, but we were defending fairly effectively. Sorry, but that's the nature of football."

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Press Time staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.