France on Sunday overturned a two-goal deficit to qualify for the UEFA Nations League Final Four by eliminating Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg at the Stade de France.
Dayot Upamecano scored the winning spot kick in a nail-biting shootout in which France keeper Mike Maignan made two saves, sending Les Bleus into the semi-finals against Spain.
Michael Olise opened the scoring and Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead 10 minutes from time to send the tie into extra time after their 2-0 loss in Split, Croatia, on Thursday.
Photo: AFP
France had a total of 22 chances while Croatia could not manage a single shot on target in 120 minutes.
It was a tense affair at a simmering Stade de France and Les Bleus were a side transformed after their catastrophic outing in the first leg.
Pressing high and playing with confidence, they pressured Croatia from the start and finally converted some of their chances in the second half with their attacking players combining well throughout.
Photo: AFP
In the shootout, Maignan, a penalty specialist, saved efforts from Martin Baturina and Josip Stanisic with Franjo Ivanovic skying his attempt over the bar.
Theo Hernandez and Jules Kounde missed the target for France, but Kylian Mbappe, Aurelien Tchouameni, Randal Kolo Muani, Desire Doue and Upamecano converted.
“We got up this morning with the idea it could be a great night,” Mbappe said. “We were convinced we were going to do it, we needed a game like this to get our fans back with us.”
Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic said it was a frustrating night for his side.
“It was really hard for us we could not do what we did in Split. We gave everything,” he said.
France got off to a strong start with eight attempts in the opening 20 minutes and had their first clear chance in the 16th minute, only for Tchouameni’s header to brush the post.
However, their first shot on target came on the stroke of halftime when Bradley Barcola’s angled shot from close range was deflected away by Dominik Livakovic.
With Mbappe asking for the crowd’s support — and getting loud roars from the Stade de France faithful — France were all over Croatia, and they were rewarded after the break.
Olise, who had been a menace throughout the first half, broke the deadlock as he curled a splendid free kick under the bar in the 52nd minute.
France kept up the pressure, and the visitors cracked 10 minutes from time with Dembele slotting the ball home from Olise’s cutback after a nice one-two with Mbappe.
Substitute Doue tested Livakovic twice in extra time, and Mbappe had a golden chance, only for the Croatia keeper to deny him with a firm hand.
Maignan then made the difference.
Elsewhere on Sunday, it was:
‧ Germany 3, Italy 3
‧ Portugal 5, Denmark 2
‧ Spain 3 (5), Netherlands 3 (4)
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