Paris celebrates France's march to the World Cup final

Kylian Mbappe and Robert Lewandowski both scored second-half penalties as France and Poland played out a 1-1 draw on Tuesday, condemning France to a second-place finish in Group D with Austria shocking Netherlands to top the pool.

Mbappe, returning to action and wearing a mask to protect his broken nose, opened the scoring in the 56th minute before Lewandowski levelled with 11 minutes remaining.

France finished second in the group and will face a tougher last-16 tie after Austria turned the section on its head with a 3-2 win against the Dutch.

 A bloodied nose, a booking for unsportsmanlike conduct and an unfathomable miss that silenced a stadium - France's Kylian Mbappe underlined his troubled relationship with the European Championship on Monday amidst uncertainty over his injury.

The France captain, to his credit, was sublime in creating the goal that beat Austria 1-0, but his failure to score at a Euros will weigh heavily on a player who has found the net 12 times at World Cups, including a hat-trick in the 2022 final.

Mbappe's last match at a European Championship ended in acrimony for France, with his miss in a shootout the trigger for their shock second-round exit to Switzerland at Euro 2020 after his side squandered a two-goal advantage late in the game.

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Euro 2024: Fixtures

Goal droughts do not come often for Mbappe but France's opening Group D match on Monday marked his fifth successive Euros game without scoring after a combined 18 goal attempts.

The 25-year-old was impressive and involved in just about every France move, but it just was not his night.

He ended it with a bloodied nose after a nasty collision with the shoulder of Austria's Kevin Danso while attempting to head home an Antoine Griezmann free kick, which Mbappe had won when he took a blow to the face moments earlier.

After receiving treatment he left the field initially but in a bizarre move Mbappe returned minutes later then sat down on the pitch, prompting boos and jeers from the Austria fans and a yellow card for unsportsmanlike conduct.

"It's very bad news for us tonight," France manager Didier Deschamps said. "If you had Kylian who is in a difficult situation... Obviously, the French team with or without him, this is not the same thing. I hope he can be there."

Given Mbappe's performance on Monday France will be hoping it won't be long before he is firing again and that he recovers in time for France's next game with Netherlands on Friday.

Mbappe was the standout French player, reeling off perfectly weighted passes, coolly spreading the ball around and injecting bursts of lightning pace to leave his markers for dead.

He threatened to score after nine minutes with a fierce low shot from an angle that tested goalkeeper Patrick Pentz.

Mbappe then created a goal from nothing near halftime with a quick shimmy to skip around three players before delivering a cross that was headed into his own net by Maximilian Wober.

The forward chased everything, starting one move in his own half with a pass before sprinting two-thirds of the way down the field to try to finish off the move.

He stunned the crowd in the 54th minute when he accelerated past an opponent at the halfway line before darting into the area and uncharacteristically firing a shot wide with time, space and only the goalkeeper to beat, prompting a cheeky grin.

Goal-shy France will be looking to silence the critics when they take on Spain in their Euro 2024 semifinal clash on Tuesday in Munich, while their opponents hope to keep their impressive campaign going even without key players.

With Kylian Mbappe leading their talented squad, France were well among the favourites when they arrived in Germany.

But they have come under fire from fans and pundits alike for a string of unimpressive performances and have reached the last four without scoring a single goal in open play.

Despite reaching the final of the last two World Cups, winning in Russia in 2018 and losing only on penalties to Argentina in Qatar four years later, their Euros record under coach Didier Deschamps is less impressive. In his 12 years, their best result was a runner-up spot in 2016 on home soil.

On Friday they only edged past Portugal on penalties, with Mbappe substituted after another match where he spent more time fiddling with his mask than setting up his teammates.

Deschamps' France often manage to be dour and dramatic at the same time -- defensively solid, they tend to waste chances up front, and they survived against Portugal partly thanks to similarly wasteful Cristiano Ronaldo.

Mbappe's form after sustaining a broken nose in France's opener and that of Antoine Griezmann remain big question marks ahead of the clash with Spain, who overcame a raucous Stuttgart Arena crowd to beat the hosts with a goal in the final minutes of extra time.

"Personally I don't give a damn" about the critics, midfielder Youssouf Fofana told a press conference on Sunday.

"We are semifinalists. Questions about the level of Antoine and Kylian? We have to realise that that's enough to be in the semifinals. So I don't see why we would nitpick."

However, it remains to be seen if it is enough to get past a highly aggressive Spain, who are in imperious form with five straight wins so far at Euro 2024 but who will be missing several key players in Munich.

Midfielder Pedri is out of the tournament after sustaining a knee injury in a nasty clash with Germany midfielder Toni Kroos in their dramatic win on Saturday.

Substitute Mikel Merino's header in the 119th minute gave Spain a 2-1 win in a nerve-racking encounter that ended with 16 bookings including a yellow card for centre back Robin Le Normand and a red for fullback Dani Carvajal, meaning both are suspended for Tuesday's game.

Real Madrid defender Nacho will play centre back alongside Aymeric Laporte and 38 year-old full back Jesus Navas, the last player of Spain's golden generation who won the 2010 World Cup and back to back Euro titles in 2008 and 2012.

Navas will share the right-hand channel with 16-year-old winger Lamine Yamal, one of the players of the Euros so far harassing opponents' defences together with Nico Williams, 21.

All in all the team is a blend of deep experience and raw talent that has been thriving under the calm guidance of coach Luis de la Fuente.

"This is everyone's national team. Unity is strength and if we all keep pushing in the same direction, we can achieve our goals. If we are connecting with our fans then I am more than happy to play a part in generating enthusiasm," de la Fuente told reporters.

France boast an enviable record in major tournaments over the last decade under Didier Deschamps but the manner of their exit from Euro 2024, despite reaching the semi-finals, suggests a fresh start might be no bad thing for Les Bleus.

Tuesday's 2-1 defeat against Spain in Munich ended France's hopes of reaching a fourth final in the last five tournaments, European Championships and World Cups combined.

It was a disappointing end to a competition in which the French never caught fire, with Randal Kolo Muani's early goal to give them the lead against Spain the only one scored in open play by any of their players in six matches in Germany.

"Despite reaching the last four, France go out of the Euros with a bitter taste," was how Wednesday's edition of sports daily L'Equipe summed up their campaign.

Few teams boast a squad as strong as that of Deschamps, but while his side defended superbly for most of the Euros, their attackers failed to sparkle.

Kylian Mbappe, handicapped by fitness problems, was a shadow of his usual self, while Antoine Griezmann never came close to the brilliant form he showed at the 2022 World Cup and ended up being dropped.

"My ambition was to be champion of Europe and have a good Euros, and I have not done one thing or the other," said Mbappe, whose only goal in Germany was a penalty against Poland.

France have got used to winning under Deschamps, but winning is all that has ever mattered to the coach, who is less fussed about playing with panache than about getting results.

"If you are bored you can watch something else. You are not obliged to watch us," Deschamps replied to one question before the semi-final by a Swedish journalist suggesting France were a boring team to watch.

Those accusations have been levelled at Deschamps in the past, but not always fairly until this year.

'We will come back' 

His record speaks for itself, with Deschamps having taken over a team at something of a low ebb when he replaced Laurent Blanc in 2012.

The captain of the France sides that won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, he led the side to the quarter-finals of the 2014 World Cup, his first tournament in charge.

They then reached the Euro 2016 final and won the 2018 World Cup before losing the 2022 World Cup final on penalties to Argentina.

France also won the UEFA Nations League in 2021 and their only truly below-par showing at a major tournament came at the last Euros, when they went out on penalties to Switzerland in the last 16.

It was following the last World Cup that Deschamps signed a contract extension until 2026, and that year's World Cup is now France's next big objective.

But is Deschamps, 55, still the man to lead them forward, after six major tournaments in charge and as he approaches the 12th anniversary of his first game at the helm?

It is worth citing the example of Joachim Loew, who became Germany coach in 2006.

In Loew's first five tournaments, Germany won the 2014 World Cup, got to the Euro 2008 final, and lost three semi-finals.

After that, Germany went out of the 2018 World Cup in the group stage, and a last-16 exit at Euro 2020 -- his seventh major tournament -- signalled the end.

"Ask my president. We have just lost a semi-final. I won't answer that today," Deschamps said in response to a question about his future after the Spain defeat.

In the meantime Zinedine Zidane, often cited in the past as a possible successor to Deschamps, remains unattached, and potentially available.

Euro 2024 marks the end of the road for veteran striker Olivier Giroud, France's all-time top scorer, but there is no suggestion that Griezmann, aged 33, plans to retire.

"We will come back. We have talent but you need a lot more than that," Griezmann said on Tuesday, acknowledging France had not performed well enough in Germany.

They always have new stars emerging, and Paris Saint-Germain winger Bradley Barcola, just 21, has been a revelation.

Most importantly, regardless of Deschamps' own situation, France will hope to get Mbappe back on form and fully fit for their next games, against Italy and Belgium in the Nations League in September.

FIFA said on Wednesday it was opening an investigation into racist chants by Argentina players after they won the Copa America.

"FIFA is aware of a video circulating on social media and the incident is being looked into," a spokesperson for world football's governing body said.

They added: "FIFA strongly condemns any form of discrimination by anyone including players, fans and officials."

The chants were heard during a live video posted on social media by Chelsea and Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez from the team bus in the wake of the Copa victory over Colombia in Miami on Sunday.

Some players, including 23-year-old Fernandez, sing a chant dating back to the 2022 World Cup final in which Argentina beat France.

The song targets France's star striker Kylian Mbappe among others and includes racist and homophobic insults.

Chelsea had earlier announced they had launched an internal disciplinary procedure against Fernandez over the incident.

Fernandez has apologised and the club said in a statement it had launched an "internal disciplinary procedure."

"Chelsea Football Club finds all forms of discriminatory behaviour completely unacceptable," it added.

"We acknowledge and appreciate our player's public apology and will use this as an opportunity to educate."

Fernandez, who joined Chelsea from Benfica for a Premier League record fee of £105 million ($136.8 million) in 2023, said in his apology: "The song includes highly offensive language and there is absolutely no excuse for these words.

"I stand against discrimination in all forms and apologise for getting caught up in the euphoria of our Copa America celebrations."

The French Football Federation (FFF) complained to FIFA about the chants on Monday.

FFF president Philippe Diallo "condemned with the greatest firmness the unacceptable racist and discriminatory remarks made against players of the France team".

France beat Argentina in the last 16 of the 2018 World Cup.