The new France captain Kylian Mbappé lived up to expectations with two goals in a 4-0 statement home win against the Netherlands as Les Bleus got their Euro 2024 Group B qualifying campaign started in ruthless fashion.
Mbappé, named skipper after goalkeeper Hugo Lloris ended his international career in January, set up Antoine Griezmann for the opener before scoring the third, after Dayot Upamecano had doubled the tally in a first-half blitz, before wrapping the scoring up late in front of an ecstatic crowd.
With Lloris and also influential centre back Raphäel Varane out of the international picture, France aimed to impress in their first game since losing the World Cup final against Argentina on penalties in December and did just that against a virus-hit Dutch side under their new manager.
The result was a slap in the face for Ronald Koeman in charge of his first match since he took over from Louis van Gaal, after the Oranje reached the World Cup quarter-finals in Qatar, for his second stint after a first spell from 2018-2020.
France lead Group B ahead of Greece, who beat Gibraltar 3-0 away. Didier Deschamps’s side next face Ireland in Dublin on Monday while the Netherlands host Gibraltar.
The Dutch, missing five players after the squad was ravaged by a viral infection, got off to a woeful start as Les Bleus broke the deadlock after two minutes, Griezmann finishing off a superb move in style with a curled shot from Mbappé’s cross inside the area.
The visiting defence then made a mess of Griezmann’s free kick and Upamecano bundled the ball home to double the advantage in the eighth minute. Mbappé made it 3-0 after 22 minutes, rolling the ball in from close range in clinical fashion after being played through by Aurélien Tchouaméni.
The Netherlands briefly threatened on the break but Memphis Depay’s attempt went just wide as Koeman sent striker Wout Weghorst on for midfielder Kenneth Taylor in the 33rd minute. France came close again when Ibrahima Konaté’s header was tipped away by Jasper Cillessen nine minutes before the break.
The Dutch had an early chance in the second half with a Depay free-kick but Upamecano and Konate continues to marshal the French central defence.
Randal Kolo Muani, who started as a lone forward in France’s 4-3-3 formation, also put in a decent display until he was substituted for Olivier Giroud in the 76th minute.
France then took things easy before travelling to Dublin, but Mbappé rubbed salt into the Dutch wounds, dancing his way towards the area before unleashing a powerful cross-shot for the fourth goal and 38th in 67 appearances.
Mike Maignan, the No 1 keeper since Lloris’s retirement, then saved Depay’s stoppage-time penalty, leaving fans wondering what might have been if he had been between the posts in the final at the World Cup final - a tournament he missed through injury.
Meanwhile in Stockholm, Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku scored a hat-trick as they claimed a 3-0 win over Sweden which overshadowed Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s much-anticipated return to international football in their opening Group F Euro 2024 qualifier.
The win at the Friends Arena gave new Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco the perfect start as his side seek to bounce back form a disappointing group-stage exit at the Qatar World Cup but Janne Andersson’s Sweden posed little threat.
Dejan Kulusevski thought he had given the home side the lead in the 15th minute as he cut in from the right and drove a low shot through the legs of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois but Wout Faes was on hand to stop the ball crossing the line.
Lukaku broke the deadlock in the 35th, outjumping Hjalmar Ekdal to head home a cross from the left by Dodi Lukebakio, who had tormented the Sweden defence from the kick off.
The Belgium striker then took advantage of more slack marking to double his side’s advantage early in the second half as Lukebakio picked him out again with a low cross which he turned in from close range.
The introduction of 41-year-old Ibrahimovic in the 73rd minute after a long absence due to injury prompted an ear-splitting roar from the crowd.
Ibra’s first touch of note came seven minutes later as he chested the ball down in the box but he lost his footing on the notoriously poor pitch at Sweden’s national arena and the chance was snuffed out.
Three minutes later Lukaku killed the game off as the home defence suffered another collective collapse, leaving him with another tap-in to complete his treble and an easy win for the visitors. (Reuters)
Updated
That’s all for tonight’s blog, though we’ll have a round-up on the site later. Thanks for your company and emails – night.
“I’ll be honest Rob,” says Simon McMahon of my earlier challenge, “I gave up in disgust after realising that Matt Elliott wasn’t on the 1998 Ballon d’Or longlist.”
How to play association football, by K Mbappe
New role, same Mbappé 🌟
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) March 24, 2023
An absolutely brilliant goal by the new captain of France for his second of the night 👏🇫🇷#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/kvTzPRLL2n
Full time
Peep peep! That was the last action in Paris, where France – inspired by their new captain Kylian Mbappe – produced a scintillating performance to thrash the Netherlands.
Romelu Lukaku was the night’s other big star, scoring a hat-trick as Belgium got off to a fine start under their new manager Dominico Tedesco.
These are the final scores.
Group B
France 4-0 Netherlands
Gibraltar 0-3 Greece
Group E
Czech Republic 3-1 Poland
Moldova 1-1 Faroe Islands
Group F
Austria 4-1 Azerbaijan
Sweden 0-3 Belgium
Group G
Bulgaria 0-1 Montenegro
Serbia 2-0 Lithuania
Maignan saves Depay's penalty!
France 4-0 Netherlands A perfect moment to end a great night for France: Depay’s tame penalty is saved by Mike Maignan, who gets to his feet to stop the follow-up as well.
Updated
France 4-0 Netherlands One of the scariest things about this France performance is the list of players who didn’t start the game: Camavinga, Kante, Pavard ,Thuram, Nkunku…
Wait, hang on: the Netherlands have a penalty after Weghorst’s diving header hits the outstretched arm of Upamecano. That law is such an ass.
Have your say
Is Kylian Mbappe the greatest captain in football history?
“The second Nations League was wrecked as a spectacle by Covid (all that time I spent making bookings for Reykjavik, Brussels and Copenhagen...),” writes my colleague Philip Cornwall. “The second was wrecked by doubling as World Cup warm-ups. But the first ... The three games you could actually go to (Wembley defeat by Spain; winning in Seville; 0-1, 1-1, 2-1 v Croatia) were more engaging to be at than any qualifiers between Munich 2001 and Naples 2023, I think. And were it not for Southgate needing to use the most recent one for pre-Qatar experimentation, Naples 2023 would not have been on the schedule.
“As long as there are no more winter World Cups the Nations League should be of a higher quality for England than general qualification.”
Yes, that’s the best thing about it; teams are much more likely to face their peers, but there is still plenty of scope for self-improvement (or going off the rails spectacularly).
GOAL! France 4-0 Netherlands (Mbappe 88)
Kylian Mbappe wraps it up with a delightful individual goal. He nicked a loose pass 40 yards from goal and charged straight to the edge of the D. Mbappe sat Daley Blind down with one dummy, when beat Timber with another before crashing a low drive into the bottom corner. That was frighteningly good.
Updated
GOAL! Czech Republic 3-1 Poland (Szymanski 87)
Sweden 0-3 Belgium Ibrahimovic has a half-chance, heading too close to Courtois from a left-wing cross.
France 3-0 Netherlands Moussa Diaby has just had a goal disallowed for offside.
GOAL! Moldova 1-1 Faroe Islands (Nicolaescu 87 pen)
GOAL GIVEN! Sweden 0-3 Belgium That was Romelu Lukaku’s last touch; he’s been replaced by Sebastiaan Bornauw. After the misery of that Croatia game at the World Cup, when he almost broke the xG algorithm, it’s been a cathartic night for Lukaku.
That's the hattrick! ⚽⚽⚽
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) March 24, 2023
Romelu Lukaku taps in from close-range to get his third of the night 👏🇧🇪
Johan Bakayoko, though 🤌#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/L9m9EgDMtu
Updated
GOAL! Sweden 0-3 Belgium (Lukaku 83)
A hat-trick for Romelu Lukaku! It was another simple tap-in after great work on the right, this time by the debutant substitute Johan Bakayoko. He left two defenders on the floor, moved into the area and slid the ball across to give Lukaku an open goal.
It was very close to being offside, mind you, and it’s being checked by VAR.
Updated
Here comes Zlatan! 🦁🇸🇪
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) March 24, 2023
The 41-year-old striker arrives on the pitch as a substitute to incredible applause from the Swedish fans 👏
In doing so, he becomes the oldest player to appear in UEFA EURO qualifying 🌟#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/C5aRUlWOkO
France 3-0 Netherlands Jasper Cillessen makes a decent save to deny Mbappe a second goal. France have been far too good tonight.
Sweden 0-2 Belgium To huge cheers, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 41, replaces Alexander Isak – and displaces Dino Zoff as the oldest man to play in a European Championship game.
Updated
The latest scores with just under 20 minutes remaining
Group B
France 3-0 Netherlands
Gibraltar 0-3 Greece
Group E
Czech Republic 3-0 Poland
Moldova 0-1 Faroe Islands
Group F
Austria 4-1 Azerbaijan
Sweden 0-2 Belgium
Group G
Bulgaria 0-1 Montenegro (FT)
Serbia 2-0 Lithuania
GOAL! Austria 4-1 Azerbaijan (Baumgartner 69)
Updated
Gibraltar 0-3 Greece
“G’day Rob...” says Chris Paraskevas. “It’s probably not on many people’s radar but the Greeks under Gus Poyet look competent. It’s ten years since they’ve been to a major tournament. Since then we’ve had to suffer the ignominy of the Faroe Islands debacle under Claudio Ranieri (a truly disastrous reign) and Kostas Manolas airing the national team’s dirty laundry on Greek talk shows.
“That Ireland game in June could be a ‘cracker’. Confirming also that we aren’t playing with 10 men behind the ball and a back seven... yet. Time to break out the bootle/official Euro 2004 highlights DVDs (I have three copies!).”
I always thought they didn’t get enough credit for winning Euro 2004; there was very little luck involved. That’s my memory anyway, although I confess I wasn’t in the best condition for the France game.
Updated
Sweden 0-2 Belgium Emil Forsberg misses a terrific chance at one end, slipping in the act of shooting; Yannick Carrasco ripples the side netting at the other.
GOAL! Czech Republic 3-0 Poland (Kuchta 64) Fernando Santos’s first game as Poland manager isn’t one he remember with much fondness, or indeed any.
Updated
France 3-0 Netherlands Griezmann’s corner is headed over at the near post by Rabiot.
GOAL! Austria 3-1 Azerbaijan (Makhmudov 64) There goes another clean sheet.
Sweden 0-2 Belgium Sweden have brought on a centre forward: Coventry’s Viktor Gyokeres.
France 3-0 Netherlands Kolo Muani has just missed a great chance, denied by the legs of Emi Martinez slashing a close-range volley over the bar after a tremendous counter-attack led by Coman.
GOAL! Serbia 2-0 Lithuania (Vlahovic 53)
Vlahović doubles Serbia's lead! 🇷🇸
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) March 24, 2023
A classy finish in off the underside of the bar from the Juventus man 👏#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/XDDbPD2xeU
Updated
France 3-0 Netherlands A bit of a strange incident in Paris. Tchouameni thought there was a problem with the ball and picked it up just outside the France area; the referee disagreed and gave a free-kick to the Netherlands. No matter: Depay’s free-kick was shovelled over the bar by Maignan.
GOAL! Gibraltar 0-3 Greece (Bakasetas 58) Job done for Greece, who would love to qualify for the Euros on the 20th anniversary of their bewildering miracle.
Updated
Sweden 0-2 Belgium No sign of Ibrahimovic yet. Sweden have played pretty well, in truth, but Belgium have been more efficient in the final third.
France 3-0 Netherlands It’s been a quiet start to the second half in Paris. France will be happy to conserve a bit of energy ahead of Monday’s trip to Dublin. The Netherlands are at home to Gibraltar the very same night.
The latest scores
Group B
France 3-0 Netherlands
Gibraltar 0-2 Greece
Group E
Czech Republic 2-0 Poland
Moldova 0-1 Faroe Islands
Group F
Austria 3-0 Azerbaijan
Sweden 0-2 Belgium
Group G
Bulgaria 0-1 Montenegro (FT)
Serbia 1-0 Lithuania
GOAL! Austria 3-0 Azerbaijan (Sabitzer 50)
Marcel Sabitzer gets his second of the night in Linz, and his third in six days for foster club and country.
Updated
GOAL! Sweden 0-2 Belgium (Lukaku 47)
Romelu Lukaku gets his second, and again it was made by the impressive Lukebakio. He took a short corner on the right, beat Forsberg easily and rammed a low cross that was turned in from a couple of yards by Lukaku.
Updated
“I agree re: Nations League (unless you were being facetious),” says Robert Speed. “It’s a better format. The bloated Euro finals removes too much jeopardy from both qualifying and the group stage at the finals. And Fifa in its wisdom is doing the same for the next World Cup. I can see the Nations League becoming a more popular and prestigious tournament than the Euros over time. A bit like how the league is preferred over the cup domestically.”
Peep peep! The second halves are under way.
“Just saw the France highlights during halftime,” writes Joe Pearson. “Wow, that’s some pink hair, Griezmann! Are you using the same hairdresser as Megan Rapinoe?”
It’s nice of you to ask, Joe, but I’ve been bald for about 17 years.
Half-time reading
Half time
Peep peep! Plenty of first-half goals – 12 in seven games, to be precise – and the half-time scores. France are hammering the Netherlands, with Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann inevitably to the fore; Romelu Lukaku has given New(ish) Belgium the lead in Sweden, and the improving Faroe Islands are 45 minutes away from victory in Moldova.
Group B
France 3-0 Netherlands
Gibraltar 0-2 Greece
Group E
Czech Republic 2-0 Poland
Moldova 0-1 Faroe Islands
Group F
Austria 2-0 Azerbaijan
Sweden 0-1 Belgium
Group G
Bulgaria 0-1 Montenegro (FT)
Serbia 1-0 Lithuania
Sweden 0-1 Belgium
Here’s the goal from Romelu Lukaku that has put Belgium ahead in Solna.
Romelu Lukaku strikes! 💪🇧🇪
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) March 24, 2023
Great header by the striker to open the scoring for Belgium 🤌#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/zFIsHY8myq
GOAL! Gibraltar 0-2 Greece (Siopis 45)
I don’t know what else to tell you.
Updated
Sweden 0-1 Belgium Don’t quote me, because I’m trying to follow 50 games at once, but this seems a pretty entertaining match. Both teams have made important saves, and as I type Emil Forsberg has just slid a brilliant low cross that was begging to be walloped into the net from five yards.
The latest scores
Group B
France 3-0 Netherlands
Gibraltar 0-1 Greece
Group E
Czech Republic 2-0 Poland
Moldova 0-1 Faroe Islands
Group F
Austria 2-0 Azerbaijan
Sweden 0-1 Belgium
Group G
Bulgaria 0-1 Montenegro (FT)
Serbia 1-0 Lithuania
GOAL! Sweden 0-1 Belgium (Lukaku 35)
Romelu Lukaku, whose World Cup ended so hideously, has put Belgium ahead with his 69th international goal. It wasn’t the cleanest finish – paradoxically, given the lack of cleanliness, it involved both head and shoulders as he diverted Dodi Lukebakio’s brilliant inswinging cross past Robin Olsen from six yards. After the year he’s had, he’ll take them any which way.
Updated
There have been a few goals elsewhere
Moldova 0-1 Faroe Islands (Mikkelsen 27)
Austria 2-0 Azerbaijan (Sabitzer 28, Gregoritsch 29)
And…
France 3-0 Netherlands And here’s that Mbappe goal, finished with precisely 100.00 per cent certainty.
"It's Mbappé, it's inevitable!" 🎙
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) March 24, 2023
France look unstoppable as they go 3-0 up against the Dutch and Kylian Mbappé has his first goal as skipper 🇫🇷#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/y0NbujAapr
Updated
France 3-0 Netherlands Ronald Koeman has made a tactical substitution after only 33 minutes: Kenneth Taylor off, Wout Weghorst on.
France 3-0 Netherlands Depay misses an excellent chance, poking Simons’ cross wide from about eight yards. He was under pressure from Upamecano, but it was still a really good chance.
“This is kind of the reverse of the World Cup final, in that France suffered an outbreak of some nasty virus then, and this time it’s the Netherlands,” says Kári Tulinius, reading my very own mind. “I think what’s probably more remarkable is that a flu-ridden French team was a hairsbreadth from beating Messi’s Argentina.”
Updated
France 3-0 Netherlands France are cutting the Netherlands open with alarming ease. Mbappe has another half-chance, lifting Kounde’s cross high and wide.
I know folk say luck evens itself out in football, but I’m not sure the Netherlands having a virus in the camp before this game cancels out France having a similar problem before in the World Cup final.
“Belgium’s ‘golden generation’ overrated and unproductive?” sniffs Sam Bailey. “And he said that to an Englishman? David Beckham would like to have a few words with you, sir.”
Oh let’s not get into this. For what it’s worth (current valuation: bugger all) I always thought Belgium roughly achieved par with the players they had. Maybe 2016 was a missed opportunity; maybe.
France 3-0 Netherlands How did France not beat Argentina in the World Cup final?
GOAL! France 3-0 Netherlands (Mbappe 21)
This is getting silly. Aurelien Tchouameni’s straight pass is cleverly dummied by Kolo Muani, allowing Kylian Mbappe to run through and sweep the ball past Cillessen. It’s his 37th goal for France, his first as captain.
Updated
“Not often that Uefa gets things right,” says David Hopkins, “and obviously expanding the Euros finals to include half the continent does reduce the qualifying jeopardy (England will be all but there if they win on Sunday). But fair play - they’ve served up some juicy ties this week. Better some low jeopardy qualifiers than friendlies with 11 subs per team.”
I’m a Nations League man myself.
GOAL! Serbia 1-0 Lithuania (Tadic 16) Dusan Tadic, still going strong at 34, has put Serbia ahead in Belgrade. This is quite a close group (Hungary, Bulgaria, Montenegro), but you’d expect Serbia to qualify.
Sweden 0-0 Bulgaria Wout Faes has just made a superb goalline clearance to deny Dejan Kulusevski, whose shot wriggled under Thibaut Courtois and was this close to going over the line when Faes forced it away.
GOAL! Gibraltar 0-1 Greece (Masouras 11) Another goal in Group B (France, Netherlands, Ireland): Giorgos Masouras has put Greece ahead in a match that, even at this early stage, is probably a must-win.
Updated
France 2-0 Netherlands France are letting the Netherlands have plenty of the ball in harmless areas; that would probably have been their approach at 0-0, never mind 2-0.
“Here in the USA! (etc), we are being treated to Sweden vs Belgium,” says Joe Pearson. “ Why? Belgium are the most overrated and least productive golden generation of all time. How they have retained their high Fifa ranking is a complete mystery to me. At least I get to see Kulusevski and Isak playing together for the Swedes (not the rutabagas, the people).”
The latest scores
Group B
France 2-0 Netherlands
Gibraltar 0-0 Greece
Group E
Czech Republic 2-0 Poland
Moldova 0-0 Faroe Islands
Group F
Austria 0-0 Azerbaijan
Sweden 0-0 Belgium
Group G
Bulgaria 0-1 Montenegro (FT)
Serbia 0-0 Lithuania
Wasting no time! 👏🇨🇿
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) March 24, 2023
Czech Republic are already two goals ahead against Poland 🔥
Tomáš Čvančara scored the second with a nice finish with the outside of his boot ✌️#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/c1BCSJ8Dcw
Updated
GOAL! France 2-0 Netherlands (Upamecano 8)
And then there were two. Griezmann’s wicked inswinging free-kick hits the partially unsighted Cillessen, who probably should have done better, and Upamecano runs the loose ball into the net from a few yards out.
Updated
GOALS! Czech Republic 2-0 Poland (Krejci 1, Cvancara 3)
While I was getting excited about Griezmann’s goal/hair, the Czech Republic were getting their qualifying campaign to a rare old flyer.
Updated
Mbappe and Griezmann both wanted the captaincy, but it seems their relationship on the field is just fine. Mbappe, on the left of the area, slid an unselfish square ball to the onrushing Griezmann, who curled a majestic first-time finish past Jasper Cillessen.
Oh, and Griezmann has pink hair. I don’t know if this is news.
Mbappé 🤝 Griezmann
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) March 24, 2023
Goals make everything better! 🙌
France's new captain assists his vice captain for an early goal against the Netherlands 🇫🇷#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/UXoUT1rJ9E
Updated
GOAL! France 1-0 Netherlands (Griezmann 2)
Have some of that!
Updated
Peep peep! The seven games are all under way. At least I assume they are; I can only see what’s happening in Paris.
France are wearing their white change strip due to a clash between their blue home kit and their commercial imperatives.
Ballon d’Or quiz, hotshot
If you want something to pass the time before kick-off, see how many of the 1998 Ballon d’Or nominees you can name in 10 minutes. If you get them all, without cheating, let me know.
Updated
“Speedy wingers as captains,” begins Charles Antaki. “Theo Walcott was much loved, of course, at Arsenal, but the love didn’t extend to him being made captain for a routine league match on the anniversary of his tenth year at the club back in 2016. Opinions differ as to who made that decision, but you’d have thought that Wenger wouldn’t have been quite so sentimental - there was a rumour that senior players decided it at the last moment, and shoved the armband up his arm in the tunnel. It was against Chelsea, I think – anyway they lost.”
I’d totally forgotten about that. Mind you, when Andrew questioned Mbappe’s suitability as captain, I don’t think the issue was Mbappe’s style of play.
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Some more pre-match reading
I was surprised this phrase didn’t take off, at least in England, until the year 2000. I thought it was used semi-regularly during Euro 96, but I think I must have confused gold with sex.
It’s 26 years to the day since Portugal faced the Czech Republic at Euro ‘96, and Ruud Gullit introduced us to the term ‘Sexy Football.’
— Stu’s Football Flashbacks (@stusfootyflash) June 23, 2022
Great response from Des Lynam here too.
Smoothness all round.pic.twitter.com/mic61VCvHD
Updated
France v Netherlands
“You may want to highlight that some of the ‘innovation’ in the Dutch team is due to the outbreak of some kind of viral illness (not COVID-19) in the team,” writes Willem van Schaik, “which has led to Cody Gakpo, Matthijs de Ligt, Sven Botman, Joey Veerman and Bart Verbruggen being sent home.”
I did think they were a bit young to have retired from international football.
“Evening from Sweden, Rob,” writes Julian Menz. “Having lived here for the best part of 20 years and followed Zlatan’s career in the ’Landslaget’, I can say that most Swedish fans aren’t too bothered about his ‘internal monologue’.
“He was/still is a great player, but has never really fitted in to the national team. (Get the ball to Zlatan is at odds with how the collective is supposed to function.) I’m flummoxed as to why he’s been recalled, when it’s pretty clear to all concerned that it’s an ego-massage from his point of view.
“I hope he stays on the bench, watching Isak and Kulusevski running rampant.”
There have been a few surprising selections this week. I thought, for example, that Roberto Martinez would get the Cristiano Ronaldo issue out the way now rather than kick it down the road. Obviously I’m not a golfer.
“Where does Mbappé fit in terms of least suitable captains in the history of football?” writes Andrew Hurley.
Now there’s a question. Sometimes people surprise you when they become captain, like Nasser Hussain when he took over the England cricket team in 1999. But yes, Mbappe doesn’t exactly fit the profile of a typical captain. I guess when you’re as good – and as inspirational – as he is, you get to create your own captaincy profile.
Yesterday’s men
How Euro 2024 qualifying works
Germany, the hosts, qualify automatically
The top two teams in each of the 10 groups will join them
Twelve teams will compete in the playoffs for the last three places
Full time: Bulgaria 0-1 Montenegro
A big win for Montenegro, whose players are jumping around deliriously in the centre circle. In a tight group that includes Serbia and Hungary, they’ve made the perfect start.
Nikola Krstovic scored the only goal, his first for his country, and Stefan Savic made a brilliant goalline clearance in the last minute of normal time.
🇲🇪 Montenegro break the deadlock!
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) March 24, 2023
Stevan Jovetić squares to Nikola Krstović who scores his first international goal ⚽#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/9XcWR5HBY8
Updated
Sweden v Belgium team news
Zlatan Ibrahimovic starts on the bench, and we can all imagine what his internal monlogue makes of that.
🇸🇪 Här är herrlandslagets startelva i kvällens EM-kvalpremiär mot Belgien! 💯
— Svensk Fotboll (@svenskfotboll) March 24, 2023
⏰ Avspark i matchen 20.45 på Friends Arena, TV6 och Viaplay 💥
S
Your 1️⃣1️⃣ Devils tonight. 🫡 #SelectedbyPwC #SWEBEL #WirSchaffenDas pic.twitter.com/SzaQH9zQEM
— Belgian Red Devils (@BelRedDevils) March 24, 2023
France v Netherlands team news
Both teams are starting afresh after good but ultimately unfulfilling World Cup campaigns ended with a penalty shootout defeat to Argentina.
There are a few newish faces on both sides. The retirement from international football of Hugo Lloris and Raphael Varane means an opportunity for Mike Maignan and Ibrahima Konate, while Randal Kolo Muani is preferred to Olivier Giroud up front.
This is the first game of Ronald Koeman’s second spell as Netherlands manager, and it looks like he has switched back to the classic Dutch 4-3-3. The new faces including Xavi Simons (19), Kenneth Taylor (20) and Lutsharel Geertruida (22), a very promising trio who have four caps between them.
The first 1⃣1⃣ of the year ⚡️
— French Team ⭐⭐ (@FrenchTeam) March 24, 2023
🇫🇷🇳🇱 | #FRANED | #FiersdetreBleus pic.twitter.com/R00MQdDoMR
𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄-𝐔𝐏 for the big one. 🇫🇷🇳🇱
— OnsOranje (@OnsOranje) March 24, 2023
Let's do this, 𝐋𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬! 🦁#NothingLikeOranje #FRANED pic.twitter.com/I1ecEeIYk1
Updated
GOAL! Bulgaria 0-1 Montenegro (Krstovic 70) Nikola Krstovic has just put Montenegro ahead in Razgrad, sweeping home with glee after unselfish play from Stevan Jovetic.
Preamble
The first mile of a marathon doesn’t usually catch the eye, but the Euro 2024 fixture computer wants to change all that. The qualifying campaign started last night with Italy v England, a repeat of the final in 2021, and there’s another heavyweight clash tonight: Gibraltar will be hoping to get one over Greece, who have been the second best G-team in Uefa for far too long; things are gonna change, I can feel it France v the Netherlands.
It’s tempting to assume these two will qualify anyway, and that tonight’s game doesn’t exactly reek of jeopardy. But a) Evan Ferguson might have other ideas and b) the Netherlands know all too well that, even in the age of Infantino-sized tournaments, qualification is not a given.
We’ll be focussing mainly on events in Paris, where Kylian Mbappe, aged 24, will captain France for the first time. Sweden v Belgium is intriguing too, and not only because Zlatan Ibrahimovic, back in the Sweden squad at the age of 41, is four years older than Belgium’s new manager Dominico Tedesco. If Ibrahimovic plays tonight he’ll become the oldest man to appear in a European Championship game.
Zlatan willing, we’ll be keeping an eye on all tonight’s matches. Here they are, 7.45pm GMT kick-offs unless stated:
Group B
France v Netherlands
Gibraltar v Greece
Also in this group: Republic of Ireland
Group E
Czech Republic v Poland
Moldova v Faroe Islands
Also in this group: Albania
Group F
Austria v Azerbaijan
Sweden v Belgium
Also in this group: Estonia
Group G
Bulgaria 0-0 Montenegro (5pm)
Serbia v Lithuania
Also in this group: Hungary
Updated
