Kylian Mbappe is human, then. The France captain had an off night in front of goal — which ended in a bloody mess — in their win over Austria and it took an own goal from Max Wober for Didier Deschamps’ team to sneak a victory.
Ralf Rangnick’s side battled gamely throughout and Christoph Baumgartner missed a great chance to give them the lead. That proved costly when Mbappe’s dazzling feet and cross caused Wober to head into his own net in the 38th minute.
Mbappe failed to hit the target at all with the best chance of the second half and he and Antoine Griezmann suffered injuries that drew blood as the match became a tense battle with holding on for the points.
The 25-year-old forward, who is joining Real Madrid this summer, suffered an awful looking injury when he headed the shoulder of Austria defender Kevin Danso. Deschamps said the nose injury was “not good at all”.
Mbappe suffers a horrible nose injury (Photo: FRANCK FIFE / AFP)
None of the players were helped by a patchwork pitch in Dusseldorf that has been relaid three times in recent weeks — and there are four more games to play on it.
The Athletic’s Amy Lawrence, Sam Lee and Mark Carey analyse the action.
Mbappe’s messy opening outing
There is no such thing as a quiet outing for Mbappe. It seems incredible that he won his 80th cap here — veteran’s numbers — yet we still look at him in wonder. That fierce pace was the difference for France, even during a match when he must have wondered how he did not score more prolifically. A heavy touch here stole away a good chance, a slightly misread angle there cost him at a one-on-one. But his super-speed gear took some pressure off his team when they were obviously suffering against the intensity of Austria’s manic pressers.
He did not need much space for the short burst of acceleration to tell. It was a 0-60 before the defenders were able to blink — those closest to him were unable to do anything about the cross he fizzed in, and a befuddled Wober’s glancing header did the rest. The thing about Mbappe being the centre of attention is that you can’t take your eyes off him for a split second.
France’s front section looks like it needs work. The blend of Mbappe, flanked by Ousmane Dembele and Marcus Thuram with Griezmann floating behind, was not tasty enough. Moving forward they will want better decision making, more fluency, and a creative swagger.
Mbappe started the night surrounded by giddy mascots who appeared not to notice there were 21 other players. He ended the night with a bloody nose after a collision with Danso. Leading the responsibility for your nation can be a painful business.
(Michael Regan – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
Amy Lawrence
Why are so many France players in unfamiliar positions?
It is not unusual for France to start tournaments sluggishly. Even when they won the World Cup in 2018, when they opened with a slightly fortuitous win against hard-working opposition thanks to an own goal, the critics were sharp. Not expressive enough, not joyous enough, not convincing enough.
France began looking muddled against Austria and needed some time to find a rhythm. One of the reasons they lacked some balance and cohesion is that quite a number of players were positioned in an irregular role.
Even looking at the attack, trying Thuram (centre-forward for Inter Milan) and Mbappe (so often stationed on the left) in reverse roles was not particularly fluid.
At the back, Joules Kounde plays for Barcelona just as often at centre-back as right-back, but the biggest challenge was for William Saliba, who is used to being the right-hand man of the central defensive pair but has to shift over to the left.
Saliba was used on the left, he plays on the right of Arsenal’s central defence (Marvin Ibo Guengoer – GES Sportfoto/Getty Images)
His body shape was affected by that, and it created a touch of hesitancy. His game was not quite as natural as he shows for Arsenal. Has he done enough to merit another chance? Only Deschamps knows the answer to that one and the rest of us will find out when the teams are announced for France’s next match against the Netherlands. He has seen his team grow into tournaments often enough.
Amy Lawrence
What’s wrong with the Dusseldorf pitch?
Another day, another ‘I thought European tournaments were supposed to be well organised?’ talking point. This time it was the pitch at the Dusseldorf Arena, which has been relaid not once but twice in the past three weeks. Premier League groundstaff like to give a new pitch at least five to seven weeks after being relaid to allow it to bed in properly, depending on weather and the stadium design (ones that allow a lot of wind in at the corners helps growth).
This one was done after Dusseldorf’s Bundesliga relegation play-off against Bochum on May 27, only for UEFA officials to deem it ‘unsatisfactory’ and ask for it to be re-done, which was only last week.
After the transport shambles around the England match on Sunday, and similar issues elsewhere, it does make you wonder what the reaction would be if this were in basically any other continent.
There were eight groundstaff working on the pitch at half-time and it cut up badly when Mbappe went through on the goal and Danso tried to tackle him. Good luck to those working on the pitch as they have four more matches still to come, including a quarter-final.
The pitch cuts up under Danso’s attempted tackle (OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)
Sam Lee
How does Deschamps solve the defensive issue Mbappe causes?
From an attacking perspective, France’s captain can create something out of nothing, just as he did for the opening goal. His swift stepover, dart to the byline, and driven cross forced Austria’s Wober into heading the ball into the back of his own net.
On the other side of the coin, France have to account for Mbappe’s lack of defensive intensity as Austria were able to build out from the back and reach the middle third with little confrontation.
Deschamps does have a defensive puzzle to solve (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Deschamps’ men did stay in a compact 4-4-2 mid-block out of possession — which largely worked well — but Austria could build momentum in their attack as they bypassed France’s forwards with ease.
In many ways, it suited France to retreat slightly, in order to make space for their pacey attackers to exploit. However, they might not have that same luxury against better sides in the knockout stages, who are more likely to punish France before they get the opportunity to counter.
A constant quandary for Deschamps in major tournaments, and it was on show again.
Mark Carey
What happened to Griezmann?
Griezmann had a difficult evening, having been barged into the Visit Qatar advertising hoardings by Wober right at the start of the second half, landing headfirst on the solid screen and drawing blood.
France right-back Kounde and winger Dembele were pretty annoyed about it as Griezmann lay prone on the turf for a few moments, though Wober carried on as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
He re-emerged not long afterwards with a huge bandage around his head, which, surprisingly, given the amount of material committed to it, lasted about a minute before it was discarded onto the (increasingly patchy) turf.
Griezmann was treated for a head knock (FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)
He ended up with blood all over his right knee, which was evident during replays of an incident where his left leg buckled after being fallen on by Patrick Wimmer. He shrugged it all off to continue to the 90th minute, though, and can be sure of another battle against the Netherlands on Friday night.
Sam Lee
Was Austria’s display really a surprise?
Before Euro 2024, many were excited to see the fruits of Rangnick’s labour in a major tournament, having joined the Austrian national team in summer 2022.
Rangnick has transformed Austria from a passive, laboured side into one of the most front-footed, energetic teams in the mould of his Red Bull style of play.
France will have known what to expect ahead of the game, but they did not have things their own way for long periods as Austria switched from a structured 4-4-2 defensive block into an aggressive man-for-man press that France struggled to break out of at times.
Nicolas Seiwald was particularly solid in midfield, as a player schooled in the RB model, with his eight tackles being more than any player on the field on Monday evening. Rangnick’s style of play requires strong fitness and near-perfect timing out of possession, which is easier said than done for an international team who typically have little time to work on a coordinated press. Austria may not have won the game, but their performance against one of the favourites to win the tournament was still impressive.
Mark Carey
What did Ralf Rangnick say?
“We created chances. Of course, France also created chances. Patrick Pentz, our goalkeeper, did a great job. I have no reproaches towards my team. They didn’t always make the right decision, but let’s not forget who the opponents were.
“We lost the match. Let’s be fair, France had more chances and it was a deserved win. But until the last minute, we were in it. We put everything on the pitch. Now we have to look forward and try to win against Poland on Friday.
“After the final whistle, Dayot Upamecano said he was glad it was over. But you just have to look at all the players they have, including on the bench. We have to be modest.
“Our playing style worked for long periods. And this was a good performance from France. Whoever wins our game against Poland will likely go through. But we knew before the tournament that the second game would likely be decisive.
“The Poland game [on Friday] will be like a final. I haven’t analysed them yet because we were focused on this game, but tomorrow it will be different.”
What did Didier Deschamps say?
“Kylian’s not doing well. He’s with the medical staff and I have a lot of media questions to come yet, so I can’t tell you more. His nose got badly hit that’s for sure. We need to check it out but its complicated.
“Medical staff are checking him out. I saw him on the massage table. He didn’t get off lightly. I can’t give you a precise answer at this stage when I don’t have the elements (answers).
“It’s never easy to get a win against a team that has athletic qualities and puts a lot of pressure on. We could have dealt with certain situations better on the first or second ball, but overall we performed well. We had quality as well as talent, and there was good solidarity among the players. We need to keep that up. I’m satisfied with this opening win.“
What next for Austria?
Friday, June 21: Poland, Group D (Berlin), 5pm BST, noon ET
What next for France?
Friday, June 21: Netherlands, Group D (Leipzig), 8pm BST, 3pm ET
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