In the early morning of July 2, Beijing time, in a key battle in the 1/8 finals of the European Cup, France eliminated Belgium 1-0 and returned to the top 8 stage after 8 years. In this game, France had good luck, with 19 shots on goal and 2 on target, and finally became the side that advanced, mainly relying on an own goal, so if it continues, France really can't go far in the knockout stage, because the top half of the zone concentrates a number of championship favorites.
In the latest edition of the world rankings, France is ranked 2nd and Belgium is 3rd, and the last time the two teams met in an international tournament was in the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup, when France eliminated Belgium 1-0 to advance to the final.
In terms of overall strength, France had a slight advantage, with Belgium beating Belgium in possession, shots, shots on target, and corner kicks after the opening, but there were few offensive attempts to create threats, and the first half was scoreless, with only 1 of 9 shots on target.
In the second half, France continued to lay siege to the Belgian backline, Tchouameni's long-range shot was saved, Thuram headed high from close range, Mbappe fired high after three people in a row, and Faisaliba's powerful shot went just wide of the post.
In the 85th minute, France finally changed the score, Muani's shot from inside the box caused Vertonghen to set up an own goal, and finally relied on this own goal to eliminate Belgium 1-0.
According to statistics, France has become the team with the most own goals in the European Cup, with a total of five, becoming the first team in the 64-year history of the tournament.
It was only the second time France have won the tournament with an own goal at this European Championship, the first being against Austria in the first round of the group stage. In addition, France relied on a penalty kick to get one point against Poland in the final round of the group stage, and a 0-0 draw against the Netherlands, so France has not scored a goal in the field so far, and only relied on two own goals and one penalty to reach the quarter-final stage, which is very magical.
Next, France's opponent in the quarterfinals will be the winner between Portugal vs Slovenia, and from the perspective of strength, Portugal has a high probability of qualifying.