(Leipzig) Kylian Mbappé watched as a substitute as France and the Netherlands played out the first 0-0 of Euro 2024.
Antoine Griezmann missed France’s best chances, while Xavi Simons was denied a goal on video in the first goalless draw of the tournament in Germany.
Both teams find themselves with four points at the top of Group D, making Poland the first nation officially eliminated from Euro 2024, by virtue of their 3-1 loss to Poland.
Mbappé suffered a broken nose in the tournament-opening 1-0 win over Austria. Coach Didier Deschamps was optimistic about being able to count on him, but judged that it was not worth taking any risks in this duel that France should not win at all costs.
France enjoyed their best chances after the break, when Aurélien Tchouaméni saw his header go over the bar, goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen stopped Griezmann from close range, and Ousmane Dembélé also missed a good chance.
Then, Xavi placed the ball in the back of the net in the 69th minute on a return throw from Memphis Depay blocked by Mike Maignan. The Dutch celebrations were short-lived, however, as Denzel Dumfries, offside, prevented Maignan from diving to stop the ball.
In Berlin, Austria scored its first victory by winning 3-1 against Poland.
Gernot Trauner, Christoph Baumgartner and Marko Arnautovic scored for Austria, while Krzysztof Piatek was the only scorer for the Poles in this Group D match.
Austria lost its opener 1-0 to France, and Baumgartner said the players were well aware of the importance of Friday’s matchup.
“To be honest, there was a lot of pressure on us,” he said. “We are relieved.”
Robert Lewandowski, who missed Poland’s first game against the Dutch due to injury, came on in the second half but was unable to make an impact on the pitch.
This defeat for Poland combined with France’s draw thus eliminates Poland from the tournament.
Roman Yaremchuk scored the decisive goal and Ukraine came from behind to win 2-1 against Slovakia and strengthen their hopes of reaching the round of 16 of the Euro, in Dusseldörf.
This victory allows the Ukrainians to return to the race after a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Romania in the curtain-raiser.
“We showed our mental strength to the best of our ability,” said midfielder Mykola Shaparenko, who scored a goal.
Showing that Ukraine can fight, overcome obstacles and win “is exactly what the Ukrainian national team is doing today,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media after the match.
Slovakia took the lead in the 17th minute thanks to a header from Ivan Schranz, who also scored the only goal in a surprise win over Belgium four days earlier.
Oleksandr Zinchenko then passed the ball to Shaparenko, who scored in the 54th minute to tie the game.
Shaparenko set up the second goal, making a long pass to Yaremchuk, who controlled the ball with his first touch before beating goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.