As one of the favorites to win the championship, France, like England, has not been able to show the form it should have since the start of the game, and only finishing second in the group has also brought the Gallic Roosters to the top half of the more competitive zone. In the early morning of July 2, Beijing time, the knockout round of 16 of the European Cup continued, France and Belgium went head-to-head, and the offensive battle that fans hoped to expect was not staged.
Belgium started high and went low in the group stage, losing to Slovakia in the first round and then beating Romania and drawing with Ukraine to advance, and Lukaku turned into a comedian to bring a lot of fun to the fans. Didier Deschamps changed the line-up to 4-3-1-2: Jules Kounde, Yu Pamecano, Saliba and Te'o built the backline; Rabiot, N'Golo Kante and Tchouameni formed an iron triangle in midfield, with Griezmann as the forward midfielder, and Thuram Jr. and Mbappe attacking as two forwards; It was Maignan who was in goal.
Belgium also has a very offensive lineup: Doku, Lukaku, and Opponda partner in the offensive line; Carrasco and De Bruyne form the second line of attack; Onana single midfielder; Tite, Vertonghen, Feth and Castagne formed the backline, while Castels was in goal.
As the referee's whistle blew, both teams were cautious, Belgium did not even complete a shot on goal in the first 20 minutes, and the five shots attempted by France were basically not threatening; Until the 23rd minute, De Bruyne took a free kick on the goal, and the ball fell quickly in front of the goal and was blocked by Maignan; In the 27th minute, Opponda combined with Doku on the left side and quickly got rid of the ball after Pamecano, Kounde cleared the ball and did not kick it far, and Carrasca's push was blocked by Te'o.
In the 33rd minute, Kounde crossed directly after the ball on the right side, and Thuram Jr. shook his head in front of the goal and grazed the crossbar slightly off; In the 45th minute, Mbappe rarely got a one-on-one defense and knocked back, and Tchouameni sent the ball directly to the stands with a volley. The first half was evenly matched, with France leading 9-1 in shots on goal, but the two teams combined for just one shot on target.
In the 48th minute, Kante crossed from outside the penalty area, Tchouameni pushed and shot, Faith stretched out his leg to block and changed direction, and Castels did not dare to slack off and save the ball sideways; In the 60th minute, Saliba was cut off for too much time with the ball, De Bruyne broke the ball straight through, Carrasco rushed to the penalty area, and Te'o quickly made up for the defense and fell to the ground to shovel the ball out of the bottom line. In the 68th minute, Mbappe made a direct pass, Griezmann turned his back to do it, and Tchouameni fired another long-range shot over the crossbar.
In the 73rd minute, Griezmann took a corner kick, Saliba held Doku on the right side of the penalty area, and his left-footed shot into the near corner still failed to hit the goal frame. In the 77th minute, Muani retreated and transferred, Kounde kept knocking the ball on the right side, Mbappe received the ball and hit, but the ball was still high above the crossbar; In the 82nd minute, Doku took advantage of his speed to pass diagonally, and De Bruyne shook off the angle in front of the penalty area to shoot, but unfortunately was saved by Maignan bravely.
After more than 80 minutes of onslaught, France finally broke the deadlock on the field, in the 85th minute, Te'o, Griezmann, Kounde in front of the penalty area with continuous short passes, Kante received the ball and passed straight through, Muani leaned on the defense and turned to shoot, the ball hit Vertonghen's leg and refracted into the net, 1:0! It was with this own goal that the French team had the last laugh 1:0 and successfully eliminated Belgium to enter the top 8; Belgium's exit also means Romelu Lukaku. De Bruyne's golden generation of players is likely to miss the national team championship.