FIRST GOALLESS DRAW! The Netherlands and France end the game without scoring

• The national teams of The Netherlands and France battled it out today but couldn’t score, marking the first 0-0 result of the 2024 Euros.
• Xavi Simons (21 years old) scored, but the goal was disallowed by VAR.

During matchday 2 of the 2024 Euros, The Netherlands played against France at the almost-full Red Bull Arena in Leipzig. Despite a pretty even contest with 24 goal opportunities, neither of the national teams managed to score and win the game.

Around the 70th minute, Xavi Simons struck the ball into France’s goal with an amazing technique, however, the goal did not stand, according to VAR. After probably the longest goal-check of the tournament, the score was reverted to 0-0 because of the Dutch defender Denzel Dumfries (28 years old), who was in an offside position, near the French goalkeeper Mike Maignan (28 years old).

The match officials decided that Dumfries actually blocked Maignan from saving the ball from going into the net. Simons exited the field in tears, being subbed off for Georginio Wijnaldum (33 years old). Overall, the French had more chances to score, but they did not succeed.

The French Star Misses Out

Kylian Mbappé (25 years old) was left out of the starting eleven and not subbed in during this game due to an injury. During matchday 1, when Austria lost 0-1 to France, a collision between Mbappé and Austrian defender Kevin Danso (25 years old) ended badly for the French star. He broke his nose and was rushed to the hospital after the match ended, where he got surgery. Even though it was not intentional, Danso posted a message to his social media accounts, apologizing to his opponent:

“I wish him a good recovery and I hope he can quickly get back on the pitch” Kevin Danso

Yesterday, the media was filled with photos of Mbappé wearing an amazing-looking protective mask in training. It had the colors of the French flag, his initials, KM, the rooster emblem of France and his kit number, 10.

However, UEFA regulations for equipment state that such masks need to have only one color, therefore Mbappé turned up to the game with a classic black mask. In the end, Didier Deschamps (55 years old), the France manager, did not use him in the game, just to be sure that he would fully recover for the last game of the group, against Poland.

A Beneficial Draw

Tonight’s game was the most promising from Group D of the 2024 Euros, as France has the second-best national team in the world and The Netherlands is in the 7th place, according to the latest FIFA rankings. While it was the first goalless draw and many fans labeled the match as the most unentertaining so far in the tournament, this result is good for both teams. It almost guarantees that they will directly qualify for the next round, both having 4 points in 2 games.

They also distanced themselves from Austria and Poland. They also played against each other today, and Austria won 3-1, meaning that Poland is now the first team to be officially eliminated from the competition so far.