Euro 2024: Timid France hopes to ‘mask’ attacking weaknesses for a shot at title

Eyeing a first title win since 2000, Mbappe’s men will look to overcome the French (dis)connection at the front end of the pitch ahead of the crucial semifinal encounter against Spain.

France’s forward #15 Marcus Thuram looks on next to France’s forward #10 Kylian Mbappe during the UEFA Euro 2024 quarter-final football match between Portugal and France. | Photo Credit: AFP

Facts are stubborn, but statistics are more pliable, said Mark Twain.

But not even the most astute statistician can manoeuvre the numbers to protect this French football team from the fact that it hasn’t scored an open-play goal in the last 575 minutes it has played – 480 of those coming in Euro 2024.

For nearly 10 hours, France, brimming with some of the best European attacking talents, has strived but struggled to make a goal-scoring impact.

Three goals have come during this arid spell, two of them own goals and one a penalty fired in by skipper Kylian Mbappe against Poland.

In all fairness, the French frontline – Mbappe and Marcus Thuram in particular – have been more impactful in their country’s election than in Euro 2024.

Despite its offensive threat being as sharp as a butter knife, France finds itself a win away from a European Championship final.

But, success hasn’t shielded the team from taking hits from the fans and the press. The French (dis)connection has prompted widespread criticism, with Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann coping with most of it, prompting manager Didier Deschamps to step in and state the obvious.

“We need to score more goals. When you score more goals, you can manage things. [Otherwise] we are at the mercy of our opponents.” said the France manager.

France’s struggle in front of the goal isn’t one down to lack of trying. In fact, Les Blues have been more trigger-friendly in this Euros (16.2 shots per 90 mins) than they were in the 2022 World Cup (13.7), where they lost to Argentina in the final.

But the key difference has been the distance from which they have gone for the goal. In 2022 WC, the average shot distance was 15.8 metres, while in Euro 2024, that figure has swelled to 18.2m.

Randal Kolo Muani of France shows his despair after missing a chance during the UEFA EURO 2024 quarter-final match between Portugal and France. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

With record goal-scorer Olivier Giroud finding very little playing time, Deschamps has struggled to fabricate a pathway for France to set up camp in the opposition penalty box, prompting more shots further away from the box.

Both Thuram and Randal Kolo Muani have tried and failed to step into the shoes of Giroud, who played a vital, yet underappreciated role in France’s success in the last two World Cups. The two young forwards have collectively attempted 14 shots this tournament, with only two hitting the target.

Another element which activated the French offensive decay has been the lack of output from Griezmann. The Atletico Madrid star was an ever-present presence in the French side, playing 84 consecutive games from 2016 before he missed a friendly earlier this year due to an injury.

Griezmann was the Swiss knife in Deschamps’ armoury for years, simultaneously contributing both in offence and defence. The 33-year-old’s form though has jumped off a cliff in Germany, prompting the French manager to bench him for the crunch third game in the group stage against Poland.

Griezmann has produced just 2.20 key passes (per 90 minutes) – passes that directly led to a shot – this Euro, while in Qatar he registered 3.50 key passes per 90.

France’s scatter-firing campaign though is best exemplified by its star forward and skipper, Mbappe.

Having finally ended a nearly decade-long flirtatious transfer saga with Real Madrid, many chalked the 25-year-old to step it up this Euro and finally push out of the shadows of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and potentially even stake a claim for a first-ever Ballon d’Or.

But the competition has been unkind to him from the offset. A crushing, near-tournament-ending nose bone fracture came first in the opener against Austria. After sitting out the Netherlands game, Mbappe returned against Poland, wielding a ‘hideous’ mask, to score a penalty which salvaged France’s campaign.

Mbappe, much like his team, tried to scrape his way through. He has steamed forward with the ball, driving at the opposition at every given chance, despite being weighed down by the distraction of the heavy-set mask.

“You really see nothing. Nothing,” said Kolo Muani after trying on Mbappe’s mask in training.

Despite his curtailed vision, Mbappe has been forced to take a greater creative role, sacrificing his trademark rampaging run behind the lines. This has been necessitated by Griezmann’s fading creative touch and the absence of a certain Paul Pogba, who missed out on the Euros due to a doping ban.

The lasting image of France’s title-winning 2018 World Cup campaign was Pogba’s laser-guided long passes being fetched by Mbappe’s heels-on-fire runs.

“Why do I not make runs in behind anymore? It depends on the team. A striker must always adapt to his teammates. For example, in the middle, we had Paul Pogba. With him, you just have to lower your head, run, make a call and you know that the ball will arrive at your foot,” explained Mbappe during the Euros, with what could be deciphered as a tinge of regret.

Mbappe and his men will know that only one thing can absolve them – winning France’s first Euro title since 2000. Two hurdles lie ahead for France, with a depleted Spanish side coming up first in the semifinal.

With all the odds and numbers firmly stacked against it, France will be retracted to bow to the revered entity of the law of averages in hopes of a fortune reversal. For all you know, if it rains, it could pour.