France may do itself a great favour by stamping its dominance on UEFA Euro 2024 early on with a convincing win over an in-form Austria today, following an unexpected last-16 elimination from Euro 2020 and becoming runner-up as the host in 2016. Currently, head coach Didier Deschamps is attempting to make history by being the first person to win both the FIFA World Cup and the Euros as a player and coach.
France should have little issue against Austria, but under German manager Ralf Rangnick's leadership, the team has undergone a remarkable transition in the last two years, winning only once in their last 16 games. France started off on the front foot and were looking to get the early goal to get their tournament started. Austria looked lethal at one stage in the opening half of their Group D encounter but had to look for counter-attacking opportunities to have any opportunities at goal.
Marcel Sabitzer created one of the best chances of the half as he laid out a 1v1 chance for Baumgartner but he could not get the finish away for them. The midfielder would certainly rue that chance since they conceded a goal at the other end just two minutes later. Kylian Mbappe drove the ball from the right and gave out a cross but it found the head of Wober and ended up in the back of the net to give France the lead.
How did the second half between France and Austria pan out?
Didier Deschamps and his France team knew that the job was far from getting done. Austria were looking great in the attack and knew they just needed to be clinical and they might scrape something from the game. They dominated the possession for the starting few minutes of the half but then the game opened up.
Both the teams wanted to get the goal that they desperately wanted but were lacking the cutting edge. In fairness, William Saliba and Ngolo Kante were simply outstanding for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Champions. But in the end, France managed to get the job done and have all three points to their name.
Fans react as France scrape through against Austria in UEFA Euro 2024:
MBAPPE 😭 pic.twitter.com/5uX0NYJVhq
— Nick (@NickRTFM) June 17, 2024
Austria vs France Highlights: pic.twitter.com/B3a4bLkiBI
— Fut Sheriff (@FutSheriff) June 17, 2024
mbappe post match interview pic.twitter.com/GNNi8MZDBm
— 🐓 (@neophecy) June 17, 2024
Mbappe that’s cruel🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/Llg5QP06rv
— Frank🧠🇳🇱 (fan) (@TenHagEra) June 17, 2024
N'Golo Kante's heatmap vs Austria: pic.twitter.com/5UNydqRX9w
— Footy Humour (@FootyHumour) June 17, 2024
Austria on that UFC Ball 💀 pic.twitter.com/V0qvqb4Ytb
— L.Prince (Parody) 👑 (@LeroyPrince77) June 17, 2024
Marcus Thuram vs Austria 🇦🇹 • Skills and Highlights 720p• The new R9 ?#FRAAUT pic.twitter.com/hBx6AqQs33
— Actu Foutre (@ActuFoutreOff) June 17, 2024