This was an opportunity for France to show they can dismiss high-level opponents without Kylian Mbappé but instead question marks will linger. They should have won a game that, although the first goalless draw of the tournament, was lively enough and brought a string of presentable chances. Most of them fell the favourites’ way but, as the list of misses stacked up, the absence of their talisman glared more brightly.
Had the night’s outcome been of huge consequence, Mbappé would surely have been wheeled into action for a side that simply could not score. Didier Deschamps suggested as much afterwards but this was always going to be a phoney war, the group stage offering little jeopardy to genuine hopefuls, and it was telling that Mbappé did not sport one of the golden bibs worn by France’s other substitutes while sitting on the bench. His broken nose was not worth risking and it remains to be seen whether he is given a chance to get his eye in when they look to top Group D against Poland, who have been eliminated, on Tuesday.
