France battled to a narrow 1-0 victory over Austria in Munich but Kylian Mbappe’s wait to score at a European Championship goes on.
Mbappe had failed to find the net in four appearances at the last Euros and while he set up the eventual winner, a gilt-edged miss midway through the second half extended his duck in this competition.
The France captain sent an early effort off target before Austria should have taken the lead in the 28th minute when Marcel Sabitzer laid off to Christoph Baumgartner, but Mike Maignan raced out to deny the forward from eight yards with a brilliant save.
France off to a winning start in Group D 🇫🇷💪#EURO2024 | #AUTFRA pic.twitter.com/zDJXzh0gc1
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) June 17, 2024
Ten minutes later, Mbappe made them pay when he wriggled away down the right and his cross was inadvertently headed into his own net by Maximillian Wober to give France the lead.
Mbappe could have made the game safe after 55 minutes when he raced through, but inexplicably fired wide with only Patrick Pentz to beat.
It would not prove costly though as N’Golo Kante’s fine tackle late on helped France begin their campaign with three points to join the Netherlands at the top of Group D.
The only downside for Didier Deschamps was a facial injury for his talisman, who was covered in blood as he left the field in the 90th minute.
Slovakia produced the first major shock of Euro 2024 earlier in the day with a 1-0 win over Belgium in Group E after Romelu Lukaku was out of luck.
Lukaku squandered a number of first-half chances in Frankfurt and when he did find the net, on two occasions in the second half, both were ruled out for infringements.
A 62nd-minute tap-in by Lukaku was chalked off after he was adjudged to have been offside from Amadou Onana’s header across goal before his fine finish four minutes from time was also disallowed – following a pitchside review by referee Halil Umut Meler – for a handball by Lois Openda in the build-up.
It meant a fine seventh-minute strike by Ivan Schranz was enough to settle the encounter and spark wild celebrations for Slovakia, ranked 48th in the world, after one of the best victories in their history.
Elsewhere in Group E, Romania are top on goal difference after they started in style with a 3-0 win over Ukraine in Munich.
Nicolae Stanciu broke the deadlock with 29 minutes played when he rifled into the top corner after a scuffed clearance by Andriy Lunin.
It was 2-0 soon after half-time when Razvan Marin’s shot from distance eluded Lunin’s dive in the 53rd minute.
Four minutes later, Romania clinched the points when Denis Dragus found the net after a short corner routine between Stanciu and Dennis Man.
