Coach fumes as Euros rocked by VAR 'clanger'

France has escaped with a nil-all draw against the Netherlands after a VAR drama denied the Oranj what could have been a match-winning goal.

In the 70th minute, Xavi Simons looked to have put the Netherlands up 1-0 when he blasted one into the bottom corner off a rebound, before a late off-side call against Denzel Dumfries.

Dumfries had run through the French line and was standing next to French 'keeper Mike Maignan – exactly where he would've dived – and was ruled to have interfered with the play despite not touching the ball.

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Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman said post-game he thought the decision to scratch the goal was wrong.

"Dumfries is offside. That's true. But he isn't disturbing the goalkeeper," he said.

"And when that is not happening, then it's a legal goal in my opinion.

"And you need five minutes to check it because it's so difficult? I don't understand this," he added. "In my opinion, once again, he's not disturbing the goalkeeper."

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France counterpart Didier Deschamps agreed with Koeman about the VAR check taking too long, but he felt Dumfries was clearly obstructing the goalkeeper.

"When I saw the images, I thought it was a no-brainer," Deschamps said.

It leaves both teams on four points in Group D after their second match. It also ensured Poland was the first team eliminated, having been beaten by Austria 3-1 earlier.

France enjoyed its best period of pressure after the break, when Aurélien Tchouaméni headed over, goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen denied Griezmann from close range, and Ousmane Dembélé went close.

Kylian Mbappé watched the first goalless draw of Euro 2024 from the substitutes' bench.

France's buildup was dominated by speculation on whether Mbappé would play after the team captain broke his nose in their opening 1-0 win over Austria.

Mbappé trained and warmed up ahead of the match wearing a face mask and coach Didier Deschamps was optimistic he’d be available. But Deschamps evidently decided it was not worth the risk to play Mbappé in a game his team had no need to win.

"Kylian is doing well. He's getting better with each day. If it was a decisive game I would have thought twice about him playing," Deschamps acknowledged.

"It's a risk for him. With each day that that passes, we are getting to a point where it's better for him. I thought the wiser decision was to keep him on the bench."

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