The French squandered a number of presentable chances and got away with one as Xavi Simons’ strike was harshly ruled out.
Where’s Kylian Mbappe when you need him?! Ultimately, mask or no mask, Didier Deschamps was probably right not to risk his superstar forward against the Netherlands, with a 0-0 draw all but ensuring qualification into the knockout rounds. What is perhaps more worrying is France’s inability to convert chances without their main man leading the line.
It was the Netherlands who began on the front foot here, forcing the excellent Mike Maignan into a smart stop inside the opening minute. Despite that early scare, France would have the biggest chance of a tepid first half – Adrien Rabiot exchanging passes with Marcus Thuram before he bizarrely attempted to pass to Antoine Griezmann to the side of him, with just Bart Verbruggen to beat, ultimately getting it all wrong.
Despite France taking the game to the Netherlands in the second half, it was the Dutch who found the back of the net against the run of play when Xavi Simons rifled home after 69 minutes, only for VAR to cruelly and controversially cancel out the strike due to Denzel Dumfries apparently obstructing Maignan’s view from an offside position.
It was an incredibly harsh decision that robbed the Netherlands of the win. Still, both sides will be happy enough with the point that, barring an extraordinary turn of events, secures them a spot in the last 16.
GOAL rates France’s players from Red Bull Arena…