A late own goal by Jan Vertonghen saw France advance into the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 after their 1-0 win over Belgium at the Merkur Spielarena in Düsseldorf.

After dominating the match in the round of sixteen, France appeared destined for extra time due to their careless finishing, but with five minutes remaining, they managed to overcome the opposition.

Replace Randal Once the ball was in the Belgian penalty area, Kolo Muani launched a shot that was headed wide until it was deflected by the unlucky Vertonghen and went past custodian Koen Casteels.

The fortunate break sent the 2022 World Cup runners-up into a last-eight match on Friday in Hamburg, where they are still in the running to win the European championship three times.

“We are so proud to once again be in the quarter-finals. We are expected to get there but we must appreciate it and not think that is something that is just normal,” said France coach Didier Deschamps.

In their four tournament games, France has not scored from open play. Their captain, Kylian Mbappe, scored a goal against Poland from a penalty kick, but their other two goals have come from opposition defenders.

Crucially, though, their defending is incredibly strong since they have only let just one goal—a penalty—so far.

After what will go down as a disastrous tournament for them, Belgium bows out despite having an excellent defence against Romelu Lukaku and his teammates.

“It’s a shame,” said captain Kevin De Bruyne. “We had a plan. We knew they were strong. It’s a shame to concede a goal in the way we did.”

In Belgium’s instance, this was retaliation for their painful 1-0 loss to France in the 2018 World Cup semi-finals, which still stings six years later.

France, on the other hand, had a point to prove at the Euros after losing to Switzerland on penalties in the round of sixteen three years prior, a very disappointing outcome in between trips to back-to-back World Cup finals.

Before travelling to Germany, the French were viewed as the clear favourites to win this competition, but they performed poorly in the group stage.

Not helping matters was Mbappe’s fractured nose in their first game against Austria, and Antoine Griezmann’s inconsistent play has also been an issue.

Griezmann was dropped for the last group match against Poland but returned here in one of two changes, with Marcus Thuram also coming in as wingers Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola made way.

In response to his team’s lacklustre performances during the group stage, Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco started Yannick Carrasco and Lois Openda, with De Bruyne taking on a more subdued role.

With the exception of an uncomfortable De Bruyne free kick that the France custodian blocked with his leg, the Belgians were content to sit deep and did not put Mike Maignan to the test in the first half.

Despite having a lot of possession of the ball, Griezmann seemed to be lost on the right wing, and France frequently appeared messy, erroneous, and lifeless.

However, they had opportunities in the first half, as Aurelien Tchouameni twice missed the mark and Thuram headed just wide from Jules Kounde’s enticing cross shortly after the half-hour mark.

France then stepped up their game at the start of the second half, testing Casteels with a deflected long-range shot.

A goal appeared to be imminent as Mbappe surged inside and curled a shot narrowly over.

An hour in, Belgium nearly made a breakthrough when William Saliba lost possession on halfway and De Bruyne released Carrasco. Just as Carrasco was about to shoot, Theo Hernandez arrived and made a fantastic save block.

Twenty minutes later, Maignan was eventually called into action again, this time to stop a drive from Lukaku and to deny De Bruyne.

It was starting to look like one goal would win the match, and in the 85th, Les Bleus prevailed thanks to a goal from Kolo Muani, who was set up by N’Golo Kante and deflected off Vertonghen.