Didier Deschamps glad Kylian Mbappe is 'improving every day' after frustrating Euro draw

Manager Didier Deschamps saw the glass as half full as France and the Netherlands played out a 0-0 draw in their Group D Euro 2024 match on Friday.

Victory would have secured top spot in the group and while Deschamps said he would have preferred goals, he was glad his side got opportunities to score.

France captain Kylian Mbappe remained on the bench after suffering a broken nose in their opener. However, the game struggled to kick into top gear.

Deschamps had no regrets about not bringing Mbappe into action, even after his side failed to win.

"He's doing well every day, he's improving, and if it was a decisive game tonight I might have thought twice about whether to play him or not," he said.

"But it's important for me to think about how he feels. He took a nasty blow, and he's going to have to wear a mask. It may change his vision too, but that is also the risk he will take.

"And every day that passes, we get to a point where we want to be, which is better for him too. So today, after what happened yesterday and the day before, for me, I thought the best decision was to keep him on the bench."

The draw left the group wide open as neither side progressed to the last 16, but the France manager was still happy with his side's performance.

"They (the Dutch) were a little more conservative than I imagined, but my only regret is that we didn't have enough efficiency," Deschamps said.

"We did a lot of things but unfortunately we didn't manage to find the back of the net. And if we hadn't found the back of the net, we weren't going to leave with the three points.

"Again, a high-intensity game, and we wanted to try to repeat the last performance (a 1-0 win over Austria), despite the fact that we didn't have a lot of recovery