Given the nature of a knockout encounter, both France and Belgium approached the contest with caution. Stars on both sides of the front line, such as Mbappe, Griezmann (France), Kevin De Bruyne, and Lukaku (Belgium), are all rigorously blocked and given little space to demonstrate their ability.

The Belgian squad proactively played low with a tight defense scheme, but coach Deschamps’ players failed to make any breakthroughs. They moved the ball too slowly and couldn’t make life difficult for the “Red Devils”.

In a tense encounter, Belgium’s first opportunity came after Doku broke through on the left wing, and Griezmann was fouled right next to the penalty box in the 24th minute. De Bruyne took a free kick and delivered the ball. When I gently touched Griezmann’s head, the fence changed direction. Fortunately, goalkeeper Maignan remained focused and made a successful stop.

Ten minutes later, the French team responded with a long pass in their own half, allowing Kounde to break down the right wing and cross into the penalty area, where Thuram headed the ball narrowly wide of the post.

The French team applied more pressure in the waning minutes of the first half, but all of Tchouameni’s efforts were off target.

The most unlucky situation occurred at 45+1 minutes, when Mbappe made a determined penetration in the penalty area before passing back to Tchouameni, who shot in the penalty area and sent the ball over the crossbar.

Following the break, the French team pushed the team higher to add pressure, and numerous opportunities arose. But strikers like as Thuram, Mbappe, Kolo Muani, and Saliba all finished incorrectly.

The most unpleasant thing was Tchouameni’s shot close to the penalty area in the 49th minute, but goalkeeper Casteels made an excellent save for Belgium.

Accepting to play “embarrassed,” the Belgian team also possessed swift counter-attacks that surprised French supporters. In the 71st minute, in the first situation with a scoring opportunity, Lukaku fired hard but was unable to beat goalie Maignan. In the 83rd minute, De Bruyne sent a shot close to the penalty area, but goalie Maignan kept standing.

Many people thought the two teams would have to go into extra time to decide who would win or lose, but the French team scored the game-winning goal.

Kante assisted Kolo Muani with a fantastic “compass turn” in the 85th minute, and the ball touched Vertonghen’s foot and altered direction, leaving goalkeeper Casteels defenseless. The goal was awarded to… Vertonghen via an own goal.

Belgium attempted to attack and equalize in the last minutes of the game, but failed. France advanced to the quarterfinals with a 1-0 victory in the final.

The “Goloa Rooster” will face the winner of Portugal’s round of 16 encounter against Slovenia.