With Hungary managing to hold France to a 1-1 draw at Budepest, there was no winner at the match ending the Ferenc Puskas Stadium. With Hungary stunning France with a 1-0 lead at halftime and Antoine Griezmann equalising it for France in the 66th minute, not the team shared the spoils.
World Champions France was looking forward to continue their dominanace in the tournament against Hungary who lost their last match to Portugal. But with Griezmann salvaging a 1-1 draw for France against Hungary in Budapest, it threatened to blow Group F wide open when Attila Fiola gave the hosts a shock lead in first-half stoppage time after catching out the France defence. However, Griezmann, the Golden Boot winner at Euro 2016, equalised the score as France avoided a defeat.
According to an NDTV report Didier Deschamps’ side top the section with four points, one above reigning champions Portugal who play Germany in Munich later. Hungary earned their first point and the Germans are bottom after losing to France in their opener.
France was very much in control in the first half while playing before a crowd over 60,000 at the Puskas Arena, the only Euro 2020 venue without capacity restrictions due to Covid-19. After having defeated Germany 1-0 in its earlier match, France dominated Hungary early on. The French were menacing with each attack, which was weathered by Hungary to salvage a point. They are not out yet. France fought and had plenty of chances, but they simply lacked the finish.
After this match, France will be staying put in Budapest for their final match against Portugal, while Hungary will be travelling to Munich to take on Germany, hoping to qualify for the knockout phase.
The report further mentioned that Peter Gulacsi clawed away Karim Benzema's low drive, reacting sharply to keep out Griezmann's follow-up, despite the Barcelona star being flagged for offside.
Lucas Digne, brought into the side for Lucas Hernandez as the only change made by France coach Deschamps, then picked out an unmarked Kylian Mbappe whose glancing header flashed narrowly wide.
Meanwhile Hungary lost captain Adam Szalai to injury midway through the first half, and the hosts were living dangerously as Benzema sliced badly from a superb flick by Mbappe before the Paris Saint-Germain forward dragged wide himself mentioned the NDTV report.
It further mentioned that Fiola collected Adam Nagy's crossfield ball and played a one-two with Roland Sallai, outpacing Benjamin Pavard and holding off Raphael Varane to side-foot beyond Lloris at his near post.
With Gulacsi having produced a fine save to turn away a fierce shot from Mbappe as France pressed for a victory that would have sent them through to the knockout phase. Instead, they must now wait until Wednesday’s clash with Portugal in Budapest.