Three things we learned as France beat Portugal to reach EURO 2024 final four | OneFootball

Despite closing out a sixth consecutive match without scoring from open play, France managed to scrape past Portugal and into the Euro 2024 final four – breaking a 26-year penalty shoot-out curse in the process.

In Hamburg, Les Bleus appeared to have met their match in terms of overly conservative attacking – little more than a handful of clear chances had been created between the two sides over two hours of play. It would be João Félix’s penalty miss that ultimately handed France their first shoot-out win since beating Italy at the 1998 World Cup.

The tedious and uninspired display offered up by Didier Deschamps and his offensive players very nearly landed them an early exit, though. It is unlikely to cut it next Tuesday in Munich, against a Spain side who emerged as the outright tournament favourites after knocking the hosts out earlier in the evening.

Camavinga plays himself into France’s starting XI

The versatile midfielder was making his first start at the tournament in Adrien Rabiot’s absence, and did not disappoint. A pair of largely peripheral substitute cameos so far in Germany did not promise much going into tonight’s match, but tonight Camavinga proved to be a tireless presence for Les Bleus at both ends of the pitch.

His line-breaking passes and drives up the pitch were the catalyst for the agonisingly few attacks the team could muster up during the first hour – and he nearly scored himself with twenty minutes to go. Some last-ditch tackles – notably on Rafael Leão at the start of the second half – would keep France in the game just as Portugal were ramping up the pressure on Mike Maignan’s goal. The 21-year-old, who was replaced by Youssouf Fofana before the start of extra-time, may well have done enough to displace the suspended Adrien Rabiot in Deschamps’ three-man rotating midfield. More of the same on Tuesday – against some familiar opponents for the Real Madrid man – would go a long way towards sending France into the final.

Practising penalties does help after all

It woud be fair to say that Didier Deschamps’ long-held belief that penalty shoot-outs are a question of luck did not necessarily serve France well in the last two international tournaments. In an apparent change of heart, the head coach recently introduced penalty drills to some of the national team set-up’s training session.

That decision has seemingly already reaped rewards. Neither Jules Koundé nor Bradley Barcola had ever taken spot-kicks in their professional career until tonight, yet both confidently dispatched their efforts when faced with Portugal’s Diogo Costa – who had kept out three of Slovenia’s just days beforehand. Whether tonight marked the start of a newfound confidence in penalty shoot-outs for Les Bleus remains to be seen – but, in any case, the improvement in comparison with the nervy showings against Switzerland and Argentina are clear.

Time to bench Kylian Mbappé?

The France captain was admittedly hindered again by his mask, as well as a further blow to his broken nose – but in truth, there was little that distinguished tonight’s minimalist display from his past few months for club and country. The incisiveness and clinical edge the Paris Saint-Germain man is expected to offer were once again lacking – although, for the sake of balance, his defensive efforts were admirable in the latter stages of the game.

Mbappé’s fatigue was increasingly evident as the match progressed, slowing down virtually every French attack he was involved in before he eventually trudged off before the second half of extra-time. Given Les Bleus have not scored from open play in over six matches, an attacking reshuffle is long overdue – not least with an in-form Spain side up next. Reserving Mbappé for a super-sub role may be the key to finally bringing out his undeniable talent on the continental stage.

GFFN | Raphaël Jucobin