France and the Netherlands edged towards the last 16 of Euro 2024 after a 0-0 draw in Leipzig that failed to catch fire in the absence of Kylian Mbappe.
The French captain sat out the whole match from the bench after breaking his nose in France’s opening 1-0 win over Austria just four days ago.
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Xavi Simons had a goal controversially ruled out for the Dutch, while Antoine Griezmann wasted two glorious chances for France.
A share of the spoils leaves the sides level on four points at the top of Group D, one ahead of Austria who beat Poland 3-1 earlier on Friday.
France take on the Poles, while the Netherlands face Austria in the final games of the section on Tuesday.
Roared on by an orange wall around two-thirds of the Leipzig Stadium, the Dutch nearly pounced on any French uncertainty within a minute.
The explosive pace of Jeremie Frimpong took him clear on goal but the Bayer Leverkusen man could not produce a clean finish and Mike Maignan turned his shot behind.
Without their captain and talisman Mbappe, the 2022 World Cup finalists turned to Griezmann for inspiration.
The stand-in skipper stung the palms of Bart Verbruggen from distance. But the Atletico Madrid forward had a moment to forget with the biggest chance to open the scoring before half-time.
An intricate move played in Adrien Rabiot but when he decided to pass rather than shoot, Griezmann failed to connect on his weaker right foot.
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At the other end, Maignan had to produce another fine save low to his left to turn Cody Gakpo’s drive behind.
France had the better chances in the second period.
Marcus Thuram fizzed a shot just wide from the edge of the area before Tchouameni could not keep a header down.
The normally reliable Griezmann was guilty of another big miss when his weak effort was turned behind by Verbruggen with the goal gaping.
But the major talking point of the first goalless draw of the tournament saw the Dutch denied a winner.
Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Simons fired in on the rebound after Maignan saved from Memphis Depay 18 minutes from time.
The goal was ruled out by the officials on the field for offside as Denzel Dumfries was adjudged to be interfering with Maignan’s ability to stop the shot.
After a lengthy VAR check, which has been a welcome rarity at the tournament so far, the offside was confirmed and France handed a reprieve.
Deschamps rejected the chance to risk Mbappe for the closing stages as he instead sent on Olivier Giroud and Kingsley Coman in search of a winner.
But both sides settled for a point that is already likely enough to secure their passage to the knockout rounds thanks to the safety net that sees the four best third-placed finishers advance.
LEWANDOWSKI RETURN NOT ENOUGH AS WORLD NO.26 ON BRINK
Austria claimed a convincing 3-1 win over Poland in Berlin on Friday to take a step towards the Euro 2024 knockout rounds.
Robert Lewandowski returned from a thigh injury as a substitute for Poland, now on the brink of elimination from Group D after two defeats, but could not help his team make inroads against Ralf Rangnick’s sturdy side.
Poland striker Krzysztof Piatek levelled Gernot Trauner’s opener, but Christoph Baumgartner and Marko Arnautovic’s second-half goals earned Austria three vital points.
With Austria and Poland both bordering host nation Germany it was no surprise to see a sold-out stadium and a raucous crowd at the Olympiastadion, with both teams defeated in their opening matches and desperate for victory.
Poland supporters roared when captain and all-time top scorer Lewandowski appeared on the big screen but he was only fit to start on the bench.
Austria dominated the opening stages and Trauner powered home a header at the near post from the enterprising Phillipp Mwene’s cross.
Piatek levelled for Poland after half an hour, staying calm in the box when a rebound fell his way and slotting into the bottom corner.
With the game level approaching the hour mark, Poland coach Michal Probierz sent on Lewandowski, who took the captain’s armband.
Showing little concern about his injury, the forward charged around and quickly picked up a booking for catching Philipp Lienhart with his arm.
Austria regained the lead after 67 minutes when Arnautovic cleverly stepped over a pass received by Baumgartner, who stroked into the bottom corner.
Baumgartner celebrated wildly with Rangnick and gave the former interim Manchester United coach credit.
“He supports me every day and gave me a lot of strength at half-time,” explained the midfielder.
“He talked to me for three or four minutes, so the thanks went to him too.” Veteran captain Arnautovic, 35, sealed the win with a late penalty after Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny felled Marcel Sabitzer.
STAR’S LATE HEROICS SAVES WAR-TORN NATION
Roman Yaremchuk came off the bench to hit the winner in the 80th minute for Ukraine in Dusseldorf, completing a 2-1 comeback against Slovakia and earning the team congratulations from the country’s president Volodymyr Zelensky.
After a bruising 3-0 defeat by Romania in their first outing, this time Ukraine showed spirit to fight back with Mykola Shaparenko levelling early in the second half following Ivan Schranz’s early opener.
With war ongoing in their homeland Ukraine players emerged with their country’s flag draped over their shoulders.
Slovakia shares a border with Ukraine but the country’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico is an opponent of military aid to the Ukrainians.
“The players showed the spirit of Ukraine on the pitch and deserved the win,” said their coach Serhiy Rebrov, whose team are playing at a first major tournament since Russian forces invaded in 2022.
Zelensky said “Way to go guys!” in a message on social media network X as he celebrated their triumph, which he believes showed his country can “take a punch and overcome obstacles”.