EURO 2024: France escapes Belgium to reach quarters

France narrowly escaped Belgium with a 1-0 victory in the Round of 16 to advance to the EURO 2024 quarterfinals on Monday.

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France cruise past Belgium in EURO 2024

France missed several chances with their reckless finishes, and Belgium even came close of grabbing the lead.

Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne charged into space through the middle, but AC Milan keeper Mike Maignan made a crucial save.

Even France captain Kylian Mbappe could not convert on easy opportunities by his standards.

However, Les Bleus managed to keep the ball moving and found the perfect opportunity to cap off the game in the 85th minute.

N’Golo Kante found substitute Randal Kolo Muani, whose cross forced an own goal off the legs of Jan Vertonghen.

EURO 2024 HIGHLIGHTS

Deschamps enjoyed the tight fixture

So far, Didier Deschamps’ side has only two own goals and a Kylian Mbappé penalty across their four games in EURO 2024.

However, the France head coach see things differently.

“It’s beautiful. It was tight, but we enjoyed possession and we had more opportunities,” he said.

“We’ve always got the capacity to score more. It’s been like this for us since the start of the Euros, but it doesn’t mean we can’t score. We don’t want this to be a psychological barrier.”

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Nonetheless, Deschamp knows that football is more than just scoring goals to win the game.

“We did a lot of good things. We have to savour it, it’s quite an achievement. We’re in the quarterfinals, they’re going home. It’s a good habit,” Deschamps said.

Mbappe vs Ronaldo

France will now face Portugal, who just came off a dramatic penalty shootout win over Slovenia.

Fans will witness a dynamic matchup between two of the best strikers in the world: Real Madrid’s Mbappe and Al Nassr’s Cristiano Ronaldo.