No Kylian Mbappé, no problem? It may not be so easy for France, who started this match as a confused rabble but rallied sufficiently to maintain their hold on a lively Belgium. The controversy over his non-appearance will continue, as will wider concerns about players’ workloads casting a shadow over this Nations League match, and more clinical opposition would have further darkened the mood.

In the event, two goals from Randal Kolo Muani, one a penalty, a reply from Loïs Openda and ensured that another point would take France to the quarter-finals. Belgium’s run of 43 years without a competitive victory over neighboring countries has been extended, but they have contributed positively to an evening that has led to much reflection on the place of this competition in the world.

It should have been one of the toughest clashes in European football, but it felt inferior at first. Mbappe’s absence from this round of fixtures as he manages his post-injury workload has caused alarm in France, where he has been accused of picking his moments to lead. Les Bleusbut he wasn’t the only one who sat out the procedure. Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku were both exempt from duty for Belgium as the desire to avoid the risk of overload was the dominant theme. The three biggest names that had a hand in this business had all decided that participating in it would cost too much.

So it felt grimly appropriate that the afternoon, four miles away, in a conference room near the heart of the Brussels bureaucratic machine, had been spent contemplating legal action brought by Fifpro and the European Leagues over the imposition of a terribly stretched match calendar by FIFA. Anyone stuck in the weeds of those details only had to drive twenty minutes to see the real consequences of Mammon’s football addiction in full swing.

Some of the more predatory stakeholders at the top of the club game would be keen to point out that, if curtailing the schedule meant their own interests would be compromised even an iota, the international windows should be more likely to feel the pressure. But storied rivalries like this are less of a problem than far-flung, poorly planned Club World Cups with a vague purpose, so it was encouraging to see both sides produce a spectacle that, if stripped of those star changes, would capture attention with a consistent held power. of opportunities and talking points.

The absence of Mbappé was not the only reason why France looked unknown. Since Euro 2024 they have said goodbye to Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud, each irreplaceable in their own way, and for a long time they seemed adrift here. That was certainly the case before half-time, when Belgium must have wondered how the match was still alive.

De Bruyne had criticized the standards of his team-mates after a limp defeat in the reverse fixture in September, when Belgium flopped at Lyon. They set out as if determined to set him straight. Jérémy Doku had Lucas Digne on toast and was quickly given a clumsy challenge and a yellow card. With Youri Tielemans at the helm, an early breakthrough seemed inevitable.

Openda narrowly missed before Leandro Trossard, given the freedom of the left flank, saw Mike Maignan parry a deflected shot. Belgium were ruthless, their visitors were dull; in the 20th minute Tielemans Openda played through and William Saliba, who slipped when his opponent turned in, flattened him in the penalty area. Saliba, who has rarely been forced into such a desperate position at Arsenal, thought he had been saved by an offside flag but VAR rightly ruled this a foul. Tielemans took responsibility for taking the penalty kicks, but waved the ball high, until he gasped in horror.

With the exception of one decent effort from Bradley Barcola, on whom much hope rests, Didier Deschamps’ players had offered nothing on the half hour. Then Barcola came again, created space and provoked Wout Faes into a bizarre diving intervention. Faes had landed on the ball with his hand; now France had their own penalty and Muani showed Tielemans how it’s done.

Still, the openings came for Belgium and it felt just like that when Openda, initially subdued again by the assistant referee, leveled in extra time. He had timed his run perfectly to head in Timothy Castagne’s cross and it soon became clear that the final offside decision would be overturned. Belgium should have been in front, but at least they were level and had shown De Bruyne some aptitude.

They remained ambitious after the break, but found France a more coherent and perhaps more willing proposition. The previously calm Ousmane Dembélé slalomed 60 meters before shooting wide; Manu Koné then pulled away after beating Koen Casteels, but Muani’s handball curtailed his joy. A legitimate purpose soon followed. Digne had recovered well from his earlier roasting by Doku and swung over a falling cross that Muani, climbing above a static Faes, flashed low to Casteels’ left.

Tielemans, Trossard and Digne could all have scored in the next 10 minutes. Now this was fun from start to finish, and the final twist came when Tielemans was taken down by Aurélien Tchouaméni. Mbappé’s replacement as captain was booked for a second time and sent to lick his wounds; Maignan saved Trossard’s free-kick and however busy Belgium might be in the latter stages, they would feel the weight of the hexagon again.