Kylian Mbappe Sits Out Stalemate Between France And Netherlands

France and the Netherlands edged towards the last 16 of Euro 2024 after a 0-0 draw in Leipzig that failed to catch fire in the absence of Kylian Mbappe. The French captain sat out the whole match from the bench after breaking his nose in France's opening 1-0 win over Austria just four days ago. Xavi Simons had a goal controversially ruled out for the Dutch, while Antoine Griezmann wasted two glorious chances for France. A share of the spoils leaves the sides level on four points at the top of Group D, one ahead of Austria who beat Poland 3-1 earlier on Friday. France take on the Poles, while the Netherlands face Austria in the final games of the section on Tuesday.

Les Bleus had won both meetings when these sides met in qualifying but Mbappe scored four of France's six goals in those games.

Roared on by an orange wall around two-thirds of the Leipzig Stadium, the Dutch nearly pounced on any French uncertainty within a minute.

The explosive pace of Jeremie Frimpong took him clear on goal but the Bayer Leverkusen man could not produce a clean finish and Mike Maignan turned his shot behind.

Aurelien Tchouameni replaced Mbappe in France's only change as coach Didier Deschamps sought the security of an extra midfielder.

Without their captain and talisman, the 2022 World Cup finalists turned to Griezmann for inspiration.

The stand-in skipper stung the palms of Bart Verbruggen from distance.

But the Atletico Madrid forward had a moment to forget with the biggest chance to open the scoring before half-time.

An intricate move played in Adrien Rabiot but when he decided to pass rather than shoot, Griezmann failed to connect on his weaker right foot.

At the other end, Maignan had to produce another fine save low to his left to turn