Fatal own goal: Austria loses to France

Kylian Mbappé got a bloody nose, Antoine Griezmann a laceration on the head – and yet France defeated Austria in its tricky opening match of the European Championship.

June 17, 2024

From: dpa/sportnews

The vice world champions beat ambitious Austrians 1-0 in Düsseldorf on Monday evening. An own goal by Maximilian Wöber gave the tournament favorites the win (38th minute). The 26-year-old headed a cross into the net. But there were concerns about Mbappé, who held his bleeding nose after a tackle shortly before the end and had to be substituted.

This means that the European champions of 1984 and 2000 are not under the great pressure that was feared ahead of the hot duel with the Netherlands on Friday. The top stars repeatedly showed off their immense speed and class. The bold Austrians, who were considered dark horses, found little relief at the beginning.

Goal after wrong decision

It was only during the first half that the ÖFB team found ways to pose a threat to France, but it wasn't until the 37th minute that they had their first chance. And what a chance it was! Captain Marcel Sabitzer, who became Austria's record player at European Championships with his eighth European Championship appearance, passed to Christoph Baumgartner. The Leipzig player was suddenly completely free in front of the rushing Mike Maignan and the French keeper from former champions AC Milan brilliantly cleared the ball for a corner, which referee Jesús Gil Manzano from Spain did not award for some unknown reason.

In this scene, the ball flies into the net for France's 1-0. © APA/afp / FRANCK FIFE

This blatant mistake had consequences. Shortly afterwards, Gladbach's Wöber nodded a Mbappé cross into his own net in an extremely unfortunate manner. The Équipe Tricolore deserved to take the lead at half-time, but they kept the increasingly passionate Austrians in the game. This was also down to the French superstar himself. Ten minutes after the restart, the lightning-fast Mbappé ran away from Kevin Danso and then Wöber, but he shot the ball rather unassumingly wide of the goal.

Big worries about Mbappé

Wöber, who was playing extremely unluckily, was relieved shortly afterwards by Rangnick and replaced by Gernot Trauner from Feyenoord Rotterdam. With a total of three substitutions after an hour of play, the ÖFB team boss tried to make a statement once again. His team did bring the energy he had hoped for onto the field as the game went on. But Austria remained unlucky and the performance gap in the team proved to be too great on Monday.

Kylian Mbappé had to leave the field injured. © ANSA / Leszek Szymanski

But it was a hard-fought victory for France. First Griezmann suffered a cut on his head after a check from Wöber, then Mbappé was hit. To make matters worse, the star striker was shown a yellow card after the referee refused to allow the French to make substitutions. Mbappé returned to the field and immediately fell to the ground.