Netherlands v France: Euro 2024 buildup

A masked Mbappé is named among the France substitutes:

Netherlands: Verbruggen, Dumfries, de Vrij, van Dijk, Ake, Schouten, Reijnders, Frimpong, Simons, Gakpo, Depay. Substitutes: Geertruida, de Ligt, Wijnaldum, Weghorst, Bijlow, van de Ven, Veerman, Blind, Malen, Brobbey, Maatsen, Zirkzee, Flekken, Bergwijn, Gravenberch.

France: Maignan, Kounde, Upamecano, Saliba, Hernandez, Kante, Tchouameni, Rabiot, Dembele, Griezmann, Thuram. Substitutes: Samba, Pavard, Mendy, Camavinga, Giroud, Mbappe, Muani, Zaire Emery, Fofana, Coman, Clauss, Areola, Konate, Barcola.

Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)

Austria’s win means there are now three teams on three points in Group D:

France have Netherlands and Poland left to play, then, and they’ll face a Poland desperate for a win in trying to avoid yet another limp tournament exit.

Austria have beaten Poland 3-1:

Will Mbappé play? We’ll know the lineups in 10 minutes or so.

It’s all distinctly reminiscent of Antoine Dupont at the Rugby World Cup:

Let’s get the reference to Graham Taylor-era England out of the way nice and early. Here’s Paul Gascoigne wearing a protective mask after his cheekbone was broken in a 1994 World Cup qualifer against the Netherlands.

As one would expect, there have been great advances made in mask design and technology since:

The Group D permutations will become clearer when Poland and Austria have finished in Berlin – more on that soon – but the incontrovertible fact at the time of writing is France and the Netherlands have an opportunity to make it two wins out of two tonight, potentially securing themselves a place in the knockouts.

Permutations aside, this is a simply classic fixture rivalled only by Spain v Italy when it comes to high-stakes, high-quality, high-excitement pool stage encounters at Euro 2024. It’s already shaping up to be a classic tournament; tonight’s prestigious meeting in Leipzig may elevate matters still further.

Kylian Mbappé’s nose has dominated tournament discourse since he broke it in France’s opening win against Austria on Monday but regardless of whether Real Madrid’s latest signing gets a run-out, this promises to be downright unmissable.

Kick-off: 8pm BST. Allez!