Euro Recap: France Secures Win; Škriniar Stars for Slovakia

France 1-0 Austria

Les Bleus made their debut at Euro 2024 in a tightly contested match against Austria. Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembélé was the only active Ligue 1 player in the starting 11, but the majority have ties to France’s top flight.

Despite the amount of talent on the squad managed by Didier Deschamps, it was an own goal from Maximilian Wöber in the 38th minute that opened the scoring. RC Lens center-back Kevin Danso and the rest of the Austrian defense kept France’s attack under control for 90 minutes.

France managed 14 shots in total, but none could find the back of the net. Even though Les Bleus secured all three points, it came at a cost. Team captain and former PSG forward Kylian Mbappé left the match in the 89th minute after having a bloody nose.

Romania 3-0 Ukraine

One of the surprising results of Monday’s action at Euro 2024 saw Edward Iordănescu and his squad take all three points against Ukraine. Romania took the early 1-0 lead with a goal in the 29th minute. Afterward, the Tricolorii scored two goals in four minutes early in the second half for a convincing win.

The only Ligue 1 connection in this match came on the Ukrainian side when former Olympique de Marseille midfielder Ruslan Malinovskyi went onto the pitch as a substitute to play 12 minutes.

Slovakia 1-0 Belgium

The other surprise result on Monday came when Belgium fell to Slovakia, with the lone goal coming from Ivan Schranz in the seventh minute. PSG defender Milan Škriniar captained the Slovakian side and played all 90 minutes.

As for Belgium, they counted on various former Ligue 1 players in this match as Domenico Tedesco and his team failed to score in the match. Former Stade Rennais player Jérémy Doku, former LOSC Lille midfielder Amadou Onana, former Stade de Reims defender Wout Faes, and former AS Monaco full-back Yannick Carrasco all featured in the starting 11.

Off the bench, Belgium counted on former Monaco star Youri Tielemans and former RC Lens standout Loïs Openda. Openda assisted Romelu Lukaku on the goal, but after a VAR review, the goal was waved off.