Euro 2024: France leaves Belgium in despair with 1-0 win in the round of 16

Pragmatism in football is a quality in itself. Those who have it worry less about the spectacle, they take things in their stride, knowing that things might turn out well for them in the end. If there is a coach in football who can be ascribed this quality, it is undoubtedly Didier Deschamps, the French national coach. After his team’s 1-0 win against Belgium in the round of 16 of the European Championship, the veteran was quite happy with his team – even if he noted that not everything was perfect.

No own goal from the game

It may not seem perfect to outsiders that the 2018 world champions have not scored a single goal from open play in the tournament so far. The fact that France still advanced was thanks to an own goal by the Belgians, a shot by Randal Kolo Muani that was decisively deflected by defender Jan Vertonghen. The French remained goalless against the Netherlands, but Kylian Mbappé scored from the penalty spot against Poland. An own goal was also scored against Austria in the 1-0 win.

You can only afford to be so relaxed in Deschamps’ style if you are sure of your own qualities. And in the case of the French, these are quite impressive. It must be noted that the Belgians did not necessarily make life difficult for them; the team coached by German coach Domenico Tedesco rarely got in front of the French goal. But it is also a quality not to let the opponent develop. And the French are brilliant at that.

It did take a spectacular defensive move by Theo Hernandez, who stole the ball from Yannick Carrasco’s feet in a moment of extreme pressure. But otherwise Aurélien Tchouameni, Adrien Rabiot and N’Golo Kanté, who had returned to the team, secured the midfield so reliably in an extremely discreet manner that it was very problematic even for experienced opponents like Kevin De Bruyne. You could accuse the Belgians of not taking many risks. But the French didn’t allow themselves to take too many risks either.

These are well-known qualities of the French. They are the grandmasters of efficiency, feared, respected, but not necessarily loved for these skills. The accusations are all the more serious because hardly any other team has such spectacular strikers as the French – attackers like Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and Randal Kolo Muani. Deschamps relied on him as a substitute.

Deschamps knows his stuff

When Deschamps was asked whether the Paris Saint-Germain professional was also trying to overcome the spectacular miss that cost France the 2022 World Cup title in the final against Argentina, the coach shrugged: “I have confidence in him. Sometimes he seems a bit arrogant, but that’s not the case.” That’s the way a coach talks who knows his players – and is almost never negatively surprised by them.

The highly controlled offensive that Didier Deschamps cultivates is the result of a fairly long evolution: in 2014 at the World Cup and two years later at the European Championship in his own country, Deschamps tried far more spectacular football.

The midfield is hard to overcome

The failure in the final against Portugal marked the beginning of a turnaround: the coach has since adopted the Safety First approach. He has the ideal personnel for this: the small Kanté excels in positioning even at an advanced age, Tchouaméni brings overview and robustness, and Rabiot is considered one of the best tacklers in world football.

With a height of just under 1.90 meters, he has unusual attributes, and with his long legs he is often able to steal the ball from his opponents’ feet. The Belgians had no answer to this trio. In the end, all they could do was resign themselves.