Co-favourites France get their Euro 2024 campaign under way with a win. Check out the best facts, stats and Opta data with our Austria vs France stats page.
France were made to work hard by Austria in Düsseldorf on Monday, but emerged with a 1-0 victory thanks to an own goal from Max Wöber to kick off their Euro 2024 campaign with a win.
They lost captain Kylian Mbappé to what appeared to be a broken nose, but not before his sublime play had led to the winning moment.
Didier Deschamps’ men join the Netherlands on three points after one game in Group D but will likely need to play better when they face the Dutch in their second game on Friday.
All eyes were on Mbappé, who is yet to score his first goal at a European Championship, having netted 12 in World Cups. He failed to convert any of his 14 shots at Euro 2020 and missed his penalty in the shootout defeat against Switzerland in the round of 16.
The first chance of the game in the eighth minute showcased Mbappé’s powers, with the soon-to-be Real Madrid forward unleashed down the left side as he raced away from defenders, but his near-post shot was pushed into the side-netting by Patrick Pentz in the Austrian goal.
Austria should have been ahead in the 36th minute when a cross from the left by Michael Gregoritsch was brilliantly cushioned into the path of Christoph Baumgartner by Marcel Sabitzer, only for Baumgartner to make a mess of the finish. Mike Maignan appeared to get a touch on it, but the referee awarded a goal-kick.
Ralf Rangnick’s men were swiftly punished just two minutes later when an explosive burst from Mbappé on the right led to him cutting the ball back, only to see it diverted into his own net by the unfortunate Wöber.
It was the fourth own goal France have benefitted from at European Championships, more than any other team (Spain and Netherlands – 3).
Austria were doing everything to stay in the game though, making 19 tackles in the first half in Düsseldorf, more than any team had even recorded in a full game at Euro 2024 in the first four days of the tournament.
It perhaps wasn’t a surprise to see Rangnick’s side being so proactive. Austria had the lowest PPDA (opposition passes allowed per defensive action) of any side during Euro 2024 qualifying, allowing 8.3 opposition passes for every defensive intervention they made (excluding their own third).
They couldn’t do much but hope in the 55th minute, though, and it seemed certain that Mbappé would finally break his Euros duck. He ran on to a ball forward from Adrien Rabiot and did well to get to it first before racing away from Kevin Danso and Wöber to leave himself one-on-one with Pentz, but Mbappé fired wide when trying to place his shot into the far corner.
Austria stayed in the game, and it took a last-ditch tackle from N’Golo Kanté to deny substitute Patrick Wimmer a run at goal, which happened shortly after Mbappé suffered an accidental shoulder to the face from Danso from a French free-kick. He was taken off by Deschamps as a result, once again going without a goal in a Euros despite having four shots on the night, making it 18 overall at European Championships.
Giroud came on to play a match at a seventh different major tournament (World Cup + Euros) with France. He joined Thierry Henry, Lilian Thuram and Hugo Lloris at the top of the list of major tournaments played with Les Bleus.
Giroud missed a good chance to put the game to bed, but it was not costly as France held on for the victory.
Despite not finding the net himself, it was Mbappé’s impressive play that led to the winning goal. If his nose is fixed in time, he can help France sniff out success in Germany this summer.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Austria vs France Stats stats from their Euro 2024 clash in Düsseldorf.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own post-match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Austria vs France: Post-Match Facts
- France have won their sixth consecutive opening game of a major tournament (World Cup/Euros), the longest current run of any European side.
- This defeat ended a run of seven games without a loss for Austria in all competitions (W6 D1) while it was only their second defeat in their last 17 matches (W12 D3).
- Didier Deschamps enjoyed his 100th victory with France (D30 L24), 59 more than any other manager (41 wins under both Michel Hidalgo and Raymond Domenech), with 22% of Les Bleus’ wins coming under the current boss (100/459).
- Austria have lost three of their four opening games in European Championships, failing to find the back of the net in three of those games (beat North Macedonia 3-1 at Euro 2020).
- Midfielder Nicolas Seiwald made eight tackles against France, the most by an Austrian player in a match at a major tournament since Bernd Krauss in 1982 v Northern Ireland (10).
- French captain Kylian Mbappé remains without a goal from a total of 18 shots in European Championships, while he has registered 12 goals from 39 shots at World Cups.
- France are the first European side at major tournaments to benefit from 10 own-goals, four more than any other side (Germany next best on 6).
- Max Wöber scored Austria’s first-ever own-goal at a major tournament in their 40th game, while each of France’s last two opening goals in the competition have come via the opposition putting through their own net (also Mats Hummels for Germany at Euro 2020 in June 2021).
- France fielded their youngest starting XI at a European Championship (27 years, 273 days) since 26 June 2012 against Spain (27 years, 79 days).
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