Euro Result: Austria 0-1 France

With a narrow victory over formidable opponents thanks to Maximilian Wöber’s own goal, France jumped out to an early lead in UEFA EURO 2024 Group D.

France, hoping to make their fourth final in the previous five major events, encountered fierce competition from Austria right away. Nevertheless, after some deft movement down the left, they had their first opportunity of the match on minute eight, when Kylian Mbappé was sent free by Adrien Rabiot, forcing goalie Patrick Pentz to make a low save at his near post.

A little while later, a cross invitingly crossed goal from near to the byline by Theo Hernández, but Austria’s famous tenacity saw them restrict the flow to France’s danger players. The team led by Ralf Rangnick shown great energy and agility as they nearly seized the lead. Marcel Sabitzer skillfully flicked Michael Gregoritsch’s cross to Christoph Baumgartner, but he was unable to get a shot past Mike Maignan, who was closing in.

Moments later, however, it was France who took the lead thanks to Mbappé’s deft footwork, which created space for him down the right for a cross that sadly Maximilian Wöber headed into his own net. After beating Wöber to a pass over the top, the France captain, who had to leave the game late due to a nasal injury, missed a great chance to increase the lead in the second half by curling wide.

That gave Austria the opportunity to push forward, even if they were creating gaps that the strikers from France might have exploited. Thuram’s attempt was saved, and Antoine Griezmann narrowly missed a cross. Ultimately, their lone goal and excellent defense from farther back were sufficient to win them the point.

Important Statistics

In the group stage of the EURO final competition, France has never lost their first game (W7 D3).
Les Bleus had only suffered one defeat in their previous 11 encounters with Austria (W8 D2).
In France’s previous 29 EURO games, there have only been two scoreless ends.
Only once, against Romania in the 2008 EURO group stage opening, did France fail to score (0-0).
After Lilian Thuram, Olivier Giroud is the only other player to have represented France in four EURO final events.
In their previous 11 European matches, Austria has only won twice (D2 L7).
Austria have only lost twice in their previous 17 games (W12 D3).
For the first time in eighteen games—since a 2-0 loss to France in the UEFA Nations League in September 2022—Das Team was scoreless.