Kylian Mbappé and France advanced to the European Championship quarter-finals after Randal Kolo Muani’s deflected shot secured a 1-0 win over Belgium.
Kolo Muani sent in an effort in the 85th minute that looped up off Belgium defender Jan Vertonghen and over stranded goalkeeper Koen Casteels.
France will play Portugal or Slovenia in the quarter-finals on Friday.
Mbappé, again wearing a mask to protect his broken nose, had five shots but none were on target in a low-quality match between the teams ranked No. 2 (France) and No. 3 (Belgium) who largely cancelled each other out.
Add a fortunate deflected shot to an own-goal and a penalty – scored by Mbappé – and that’s France’s only goals at Euro 2024.
It will do little to stop the growing dissent of France’s fans who feel more can come from a talented group of players headlined by Mbappé, playing on the day he officially became a Real Madrid player.
Mbappé will be playing in his first ever quarter-final at the European Championship, with France having lost on a penalty shoot-out to Switzerland in the last 16 at the last tournament in 2021.
