Les Bleus remain favourites for continental glory but have struggled to find a spark and were held in their latest outing
France remain world champions and favourites for Euro 2020 glory, but Didier Deschamps’ side are still searching for a spark after being held to a 1-1 draw by Hungary in Budapest.
Antoine Griezmann cancelled out Attila Fiola’s opener in that contest, which was played out in front of a lively full house in Budapest, but Les Bleus were unable to find a winner despite boasting an enviable array of attacking options.
They also required an own goal from Mats Hummels to edge them past Germany in their European Championship opener, and suffered an attacking blow at the Puskas Arena as Ousmane Dembele – who was only introduced as a second-half substitute – was forced off late on.
What has been said?
Asked for an update on Dembele’s fitness after seeing him replaced by Thomas Lemar, France boss Didier Deschamps told reporters afterwards: “He’s been hit on the tendon, behind the knee, it will be necessary to check.
“He continued for a bit, he wanted to cross and felt a fairly significant discomfort. I brought him out. It will be necessary to keep an eye on it.”
What about the game?
Deschamps made just one change to his starting XI for a meeting with Hungary, as Lucas Digne came in at left-back.
He kept faith with Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema in attack, but could only muster one goal against stubborn opposition.
“In a first period where we deserved to score, we found ourselves behind after their only opportunity,” Deschamps told TF1.
“With this support, it gave them strength. They defend very well, they also did against Portugal until the 83rd minute.
“This is a point. This is obviously not what we hoped for but given the context, we will take it anyway.
“We had some great opportunities in the first half. We had the chances to score but we didn’t, it’s football. They hardly got anything too.
“We had a few opportunities, we scored that goal. It is not enough compared to what we hoped for, but we have to accept it.”
Who else has had their say?
While France are yet to produce their best, Barcelona frontman Griezmann remains confident that they can move through the gears as another major tournament progresses.
He has told beIN Sports: “It was a tough game in front of a home crowd. We lost our way with the stadium full, we couldn’t get going, the pitch was dry and it was super hot.
“We got caught on a counter-attack. We couldn’t find each other or put the chances away that we had in the first half. And we paid for it. But there are great players everywhere and even against Hungary it’s tough.
“Am I worried ? No. We have the group to react. We know we have the players to make a difference at any moment.
“We will have to continue to learn and improve on two or three things up front. We have the team to do it and I have confidence in our team, whether it’s those who started or those who are on the bench.”
France will be back in action when taking on Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal, by which time they could have been knocked off top spot in the so-called ‘Group of Death’.
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