France have been held to a goalless draw this Friday night at Leipzig against The Netherlands. Les Bleus missed too many clear-cut chances and had VAR to thank for too, with Xavi Simons’ goal being chalked off for an offside position from Denzel Dumfries. In the end, no team broke the deadlock and neither of them are certain for sure they will qualify for the knock-out stages of the Euros. Although with four points in the bag, it will be a disaster for France and The Netherlands to not qualify, considering four of the third-placed teams will go through.
So far, The Netherlands top Group D by the finest of margins: a single goal considering they beat Poland 2-1 on opening day when France only defeated Austria with a 1-0 scoreline. The situation is therefore fluid. For France to win the group, Les Bleus will need to beat Poland, this Tuesday at Dortmund, with enough of a lead to overtake The Netherlands on goal difference, if the Oranje were to beat Austria on Tuesday at Berlin. Should France draw, they won’t be able to top the group, as it will mean either The Netherlands or Austria would finish above them.
However, with only a point separating Ralf Rangnick’s team from Ronald Koeman’s, Austria can still cause an upset and qualify for the latter stages of the campaign. Considering Poland have been disappointing thus far and that Austria have gained serious momentum on the back of their 3-1 win this Friday against them, it doesn’t take a genius to think Didier Deschamps would rather face the Biało-czerwoni than Das Team for the decisive game of the group stages. Should France top Group D, Les Bleus would face the second-placed team on Group F – currently Portugal – on Tuesday, July 2nd, at Leipzig.
GFFN | Bastien Cheval
