Can France-Belgium have the effect of a trigger for the Blues?

Their qualification for the quarter-finals marked the entry into a new competition. It remains to be seen whether the confidence gained on Monday will allow them to erase the shortcomings of this team that is still as ineffective.

We haven’t seen him exult like this for a long time. Didier Deschamps ardently celebrated the qualification of his French team for the quarter-finals of Euro 2024, after the victory snatched against Belgium (1-0), Monday July 1st. The coach appeared as if relieved of a weight at a press conference a few minutes later. “We are demonstrative, yes. I don’t know if it was more or less than usual, but I tell my staff to appreciate every moment. It was an important shift for us.”he rejoiced.

Before the match, he and his players kept saying that they were about to enter a new tournament. But when he talks about a change, he may not only be talking about the transition from a group stage that looked like a preparation, where each team was given a second chance (only eight were eliminated out of 24 participants), to this long-awaited elimination phase.

It is often said that victories won through pain – especially against a feared opponent – are often those that forge champions. “A trigger? We’ll see. Time will tell.”temporized Antoine Griezmann in the mixed zone. In any case, Didier Deschamps, for his part, comes out stronger from this success despite his fumbling in his team compositions. The almost improvised hinge William Saliba-Dayot Upamecano already seems unshakeable. His Blues have still not conceded a single goal during the course of the game. The only goal of the match was caused by the only player he decided to take off the bench.

“I have Randal Kolo Muani who is a scorer [l’UEFA l’a compté comme un CSC de Jan Vertonghen]. I have Jules Koundé man of the match, whom you have been cutting down for two years… Which shows that you always have to have a little restraint”the coach rejoiced in front of the journalists. If his striker ends up being credited with the goal, it would be only the second goal scored by a French substitute in a major tournament (World Cup + Euro) since the final phase of Euro 2016, after… Randal Kolo Muani already, against Morocco, in the semi-finals of the last World Cup.

After several days of discussing the frustration of underused players, the goal caused by the Parisian supports the theory of a concerned group (while only 13 players have had a start and the playing time is very unbalanced). However, this does not change the fact that this team found itself transfigured against Belgium. On the contrary, it was still as ineffective in front of goal (20 shots, 2 on target), and still as solid in its own half.

“The only regret is the number of strikes [ratées]. By wanting to put too much power, it goes out of the framework (…). Since the start of the Euro, it’s a little more difficult [de marquer]but that doesn’t prevent us from always having a lot of chances. Today, we had six or seven. We have to force destiny and not let it become a blockage. We’re going to work on that.”Deschamps promised. His team has still not scored anything other than an own goal or penalty. We are obviously far from the France-Argentina of the 2018 World Cup (4-3), but the Blues took another step forward on Monday. The step will be even higher against Portugal in the next round.