There was the moment of unbridled joy Kylian Mbappé had presumably visualised in recent days: whipping off his black mask and celebrating in front of thousands of France supporters daubed if not decked out in tricolour in the imposing, iconic Südtribüne. He struck a nerveless second-half penalty to register his first goal at a European Championship and relieve France’s goalscoring frustrations – but by the end of a stodgy team performance he cut a contrasting figure, fidgeting with the mechanics of his mask in sticky heat, wiping the sweat clear with a towel.
Mbappé was comfortably the most dangerous player on the pitch – he had six shots, five on target – but the bad news for France was there was another returning forward in the shape of Robert Lewandowski, who secured an unlikely point, also scoring from the spot.
