Euro 2024: Own goal lifts France past Belgium

France may not play the most attractive football but they did just enough to get past Belgium and have booked their spot in the quarterfinals of Euro 2024.

An own goal from Jan Vertonghen
off a Kolo Muani shot was the only goal of the game. Own goal now has nine tallies in this tournament, making it the highest scorer of the Euros.

France won't care how the goal came about. The only thing manager Didier Deschamps will care about is that his side is in the quarterfinals.

The score reflected how the game went.

Belgium were the better team in the first half but had nothing to show for it. The closest they came was on a free-kick from Kevin De Bruyne. France keeper Mike Maignan appeared to see the shot late as he dropped down to save the shot with his foot.

France finally started to get into the game in the second half with one of their better opportunities coming in the 49th minute. Jules Kounde delivered a precise cross to Marcus Thuram who somehow managed to not get his header on target.

The breakthrough finally came in the 85th minute courtesy of the substitute Kolo Muani. Muani was inside the box on the right who took a shot from a tight angle, deflecting off Vertonghen much to the delight of the French supporters.

Belgium manager Domenico Tedesco chucked in a couple of attackers in the final minutes but it wasn't enough as France hung on.

The performance from the French was what we've come to expect under Deschamps. They were conservative, banking on the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann to produce a moment of individual skill and nick a goal.

Again, it's not the most exciting for the neutral but one cannot argue with the results as it's served France well in recent history. Les Bleus will face the winner between Portugal and Slovenia in the quarterfinals.