France qualifies for Euro 2024 quarter-finals thanks to own goal from Jan Vertonghen

France reached the quarter-finals of the 2024 European Championship on Monday evening at the expense of Belgium. In Düsseldorf, the team of national coach Didier Deschamps was too strong with 1-0, due to an unfortunate own goal by Jan Vertonghen. In the quarter-finals, France will face Portugal or Slovenia in Hamburg on Friday.

France had two different players in the starting line-up compared to last Tuesday's game against Poland. Antoine Griezmann and Marcus Thuram formed the front line with Kylian Mbappé this time, leaving Ousmane Dembélé and Bradley Barcola on the bench.

Belgium also started with two different starting players than in the last group match against Ukraine. Youri Tielemans and Leandro Trossard made way for Yannick Carrasco and former Vitesse player Loïs Openda. Former Eredivision players Vertonghen and Wout Faes were again in central defence, while PSV's Johan Bakayoko had to settle for a reserve role.

In the very disappointing first half, the first real opportunity was not recorded until after 25 minutes. A free kick from Kevin De Bruyne, of which it was not entirely clear whether it was a shot or a cross, was kept out of the goal by Mike Maignan with his legs.

Ten minutes later, France also threatened for the first time. A fine cross from Jules Koundé ended up on Thuram's head, but his header just missed the target. Just before half-time, Aurélien Tchouaméni shot over in a promising position.

The second half could only be more fun than the first half, and in the opening phase France suddenly created quite a few chances. A shot from Tchouaméni touched by Faes was saved by Koen Casteels, after which attempts from Thuram and Mbappé flew over the Belgian goal.

After an hour of play, the Belgians finally threatened again, but Carrasco was stopped at the last moment with an excellent sliding tackle by Theo Hernández. Shortly afterwards, there were also opportunities for Romelu Lukaku and De Bruyne (Maignan saved twice), while William Saliba and Mbappé missed the Belgian goal for France at the other end of the field.

Although the second half was already a lot more fun than the first, the match seemed destined to end in a 0-0 draw. However, that was prevented five minutes before the end by Randal Kolo Muani: he shot from a turn and via Vertonghen's leg. France therefore qualifies for the quarter-finals, while Belgium goes home.

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