France 1-0 Germany summary: score, goals, highlights, Euro 2020
France vs Germany: match report; as it happened
World champions France got their Euro 2020 campaign off to a winning start with a 1-0 win over Germany in Munich.
In a game that was played at a frantic pace from start to finish, Germany dominated possession and managed 10 shots on goal but just one on target as the home side failed to test Hugo Lloris over the 90 minutes.
France took the lead in the 20th minute thanks to an own goal by Mats Hummels, who accidentally steered the ball past his own goalkeeper as he tried to cut out a Theo Hernandez cross towards Kylian Mbappé.
In the 51st minute, France came close to doubling their lead when Rabiot struck the near post from a short distance after latching on to a well-played through ball from Mbappé.
France would go on to find the back of the net twice more, only for both goals -- Mbappé’s on 65’ and Benzema’s in the dying minutes -- to be ruled out for offside. Pogba, who played a crucial part in setting up both disallowed goals, was named man of the match, with the United midfielder having put in a huge performance alongside Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante in the French engine room.
Next up for France is Hungary on Saturday, while Germany will have a tough task in getting back to winning ways against reigning champions Portugal, who oversaw a 3-0 win over Hungary earlier on Tuesday.
Pogba put in the kind of performance that Roy Keane would say he never does in a United jersey. He was immense in midfield with Kante. The United player set up both of France's disallowed goals, that of Mbappé and later Benzema.
Here's how group F stands after matchday 1. Portugal left it late but eventually managed three goals in the last ten minutes of their game against Hungary in Budapest, with Ronaldo netting a brace to put the current champions top of the group.
Next Saturday, Hungary take on France, while Portugal face Germany.
"France seemed to win that in third gear. You wouldn't rush to play against them," says journalist Paul Hayward on Twitter. France had 38% possession to Germany's 62%. Germany managed 10 shots on goal, while France recorded 4.
Peep, peep, peep! It's all over. France have won in Munich. Germany have lost their opening game in the European Championships for the first-ever time.
Substitute Volland tries from distance for Germany but his shot sails way wide of the far post.
France make a second change: Dembele on for Rabiot.
Muller with the cross from the right but it's cleared by Varane. All ten German outfield players are deep inside France's half as they look for a late equaliser.
Germany will have six minutes to find an equaliser. But not if Rabiot has anything to do with it. He's holding up the game for an apparent injury but the German fans are absolutely furious and believe he's time wasting.
France make their first change: Benzema makes way for Tolisso.
Griezmann has been immense in defence as well as in attack. This time he comes in with a crunching tackle to stop Kimmich putting in a cross from deep.
Replays of the challenge show that Hummels came in from behind on Mbappé but did manage to get his foot to he ball first before the Frenchman fell to the floor.
Appeals for a penalty as Mbappé is taken down in the box! Mbappé left Hummels for dust before the German defender recovers the ball in the box. It looked like he may have fouled the French stiker but the ref waves play on to the sound of jeers from the French fans in the stand.
Lloris again collects easily as a cross comes in from right from Kimmich.
Werner straight into the action with a cross from the left, but Lloris comes to collect with ease.
Germany making their first changes: Sane and Werner come on for Havertz and Gnabry.
Mbappé scores but he's flagged for offside in the buildup! Mbappé tries to take on Hummels before guiding the ball into the far bottom corner in with the side of his right foot. There is brief elation for France before the assistant raises his flag. Turns out Mbappé was just offside when he received the crossfield pass from Pogba.
Pavard has been floored and needs attention after a collision with Gosens. He looked like he may have been knocked out as Hummels played a wonderful cross in from the right towards the far side of the six yard area. As the onrushing Gosens came in high, his hip made contact with Pavards head and the France defender looked like he'd taken a punch from Mayweather. Eventually, he gets back on his feet and the match continues.
Gnabry is in again! This time Lloris rushes out of his goal to dispossess him as he tried to scoop the ball over the France defender.
Gnabry with the first time volley! And sails just over Lloris bar. That's the closest Germany have come to scoring.
Rabiot hits the post for France!
Mbappé plays a peach of a pass with the outside of this boot to release Rabiot on the left. He's got Griezmann to his right in a decent scoring position but he goes for goal himself and hits the near left post with a side-footed shot.
Mbappé tries to twist, turn and weave around several defenders in the German box. He manages to beat a couple before eventually losing the ball. He didn't have much support around him to be fair.
Second half underway!
France kick off the second 45 in Munich with no changes from either side.
The teams are back on the field and ready to start the seond half.
Kante's been everywhere
As former French midfield hero Emmanuel Petit so beautifully put it: "What we say in France about it is very simple: the planet is covered by 75% water. The rest is covered by N'Golo Kante."
Some stats from that first half:
Shots:
France - 2
Germany - 6
Shots on target:
France - 1
Germany - 0
Touches in the opposition box:
France - 7
Germany - 8
Possession:
France - 41%
Germany - 59%
Pass accuracy:
France - 84%
Germany - 88% ¡
The ref blows for half time!
Peep, peep! The referee calls time on what has been a frenetic first half. France lead thanks to Lucas Hernandez, whose quick cross forced Mats Hummels to steer the ball into his own goal on 19'.
One minute of added time to be played.
A reminder that Germany have not never lost their opening game at the Euros, winning seven and drawing five. But they're down here as half time approaches.
Positive attacking threat from Germany ends with Gundogan sending a half volley goal bound from 12 yards out. But his shot sails just wide of the far post.
Decent break from Mbappé down the left as the PSG forward tries to direct a pass towards Benzema in the center and wins a corner. Griezmann takes but it's cleared by a German head.
30 minutes gone in Munich and it has been a frantic affair to say the least. It's certainly living up to the billing on paper.
Germany again have a free kick within scoring range. Kroos takes again. This time the Real Madrid midfielder gets the ball over the wall but it sails wide of near left post.
Germany have a free kick from a goal scoring position. Muller plays the decoy before Kroos launches a shot directly at the French wall.
GOAL FRANCE!
France take the lead in Munich! Pogba sends a beautifully weighted pass across the box towards Hernandez on the left edge of the area. The full back plays a quick first-time cross towards Mbappé and Hummels has managed to steer the ball into his own goal as he looked to cut out the cross.
France finding their feet now as Mbappé tests Neuer with a curling shot from 12 yards out on the left side of the box towards the far corner. France win another corner but can do nothing with it.
Positive play from France as Pavard plays the cross from the right and wins a corner. Pogba manages to get on the end of the corner and steers the ball just over.
Griezmann dispossessed going forward, which allows Germany to break on the counter. However, Mbappé is quick to win the ball back and France again run at the German defence.
Ten minutes gone at the Allianz Arena and Germany have so far dominated possession in front of the home crowd. But they are yet to test Lloris in goal.
Gundogan tries to release Muller in space with a clever through ball, but Kante reads it well and cuts out the danger.
Kimmich goes in the book for a challenge on Hernandez inside France's half by the touchline.
Germany have started better and are applying pressure on the French defense.
Germany have a chance to deliver a free kick set piece into the box. Kroos takes and Mats Hummels gets on the end of it but somehow sends his header high over the bar from close in.
The match is underway!
This is the last game of the round 1 of the group stages and what a game to finish on! France-Germany is seconds away.
The teams are on the field!
Five minutes to kick as the France and Germany teams line out for the national anthems. A sizeable French contigent in the stands at the Allianz Arena, which as 14,500 capacity for today's game.
France get warmed up
Some images of the French players warming up earlier, everyone except German fans excited to see how Mbappé and Benzema team up today...
Germany looking to maintain impressive record
While England recorded their fist ever victory in a Euro opener, Germany, on the other hand, have NEVER lost their opening game in the tournamet, winning seven and drawing five. But this could be arguably their most difficult opener yet against an extremely potent French side.
Real Madrid team mates become international rivals
Toni Kroos goes up against his Real Madrid team mates Karim Benzema and Raphael Varane today. Benzema, of course, was surprisingly recalled to the French team after a six-year hiatus over his involvement in the Valbuena blackmail case.
French invasion in Munich
Plenty of France support in the streets of Munich. As aforementioned, 2,500 of them will be in the Allianz Arena making sure "Allez les Bleus" is well heard today...
Oldest German side since Euro 2000
The average age of Germany's starting XI today vs France is 28 years & 347 days - the oldest German side in a major tournament since Euro 2000. (Stat courtesy of Get German Football News on Twitter).
Fans arriving at Allianz Arena
A great day for German fans as they return to the stands to cheer on their heros. The capacity at the Allianz Arena for today is 14,500, with 2,500 France fans expected to be in attendance
France and Germany's last and only meeting in Euros
France and Germany have only met once at the Euros, in the 2016 semi-finals, where Antoine Griezmann's brace secured victory for Les Bleus before they went on to lose against Portugal in the final.
France have arrived at the Allianz Arena
Les Bleus are in the building, as Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappé prepare to partner up for the first time in an international France fixture...
Portugal leave it late to secure big win against Hungary
In the other Group F fixture, Portugal managed to score three goals in the dying minutes against Hungary in Budapest, with brace-hero Cristiano Ronaldo laying down a big marker for the other two in the group.
Germany Starting XI against France
Neuer, Rudiger, Ginter, Hummels, Kimmich, Havertz, Kroos, Gnabry, Gosens, Gundongen, Muller
France Starting XI against Germany
Lloris, Hernandez, Kimpembe, Varane, Pavard, Kanté, Rabiot, Pogba, Griezmann, Mbappé, Benzema
Teams do not get much better on paper than that!
Deschamps on Germany's attacking strength
Much has been made of the firepower Deschamps has at his disposal ahead of France's tournament opener against Germany, with Real Madrid's Karim Benzema back in the squad and set to line up alongside Kylian Mbappé and Antoine Griezmann in attack.
But the France coach, who is looking to become the first person ever to win the World Cup and European Championships as player and manager this summer, said Germany have plenty of attacking options to worry his side's defence, too.
"There is individual quality in each position but the players can play in very different positions, they can be flexible, which is difficult to play against," Deschamps told a news conference on Monday. "There are players like (Timo) Werner or (Leroy) Sane who have a very different playing style and tomorrow we will see who is playing in attack for Germany.
"Their attackers are important for the German team, and we have to try stop them having an impact on the game and how successful we are depends how we move and are positioned on the pitch."
Welcome!
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Germany vs France in Euro 2020 Group F. It's the biggest game of the group stages and it gets underway in one hour (3pm ET). In the meantime, you can follow the build-up with us here.