Relentless Kanté more than justifies recall in France’s win against Austria

Eyebrows were raised when France recalled N'Golo Kanté after two years in the international wilderness but coach Didier Deschamps knew what he was doing and the midfielder looked as if he had never been away in Monday's 1-0 win over Austria at Euro 2024.

Before the recall Kanté's last game for his country was in June 2022 as he missed the World Cup with a hamstring injury.

A move to the Saudi Pro League appeared to have ended his France career but the 33-year-old was superb in their Group D clash on Monday, showing that playing at a lower club level did not equate to a drop in his own standards.

Kanté showed the remarkable all-pitch energy that initially took him to the top of the world game, working tirelessly to keep the physical Austrians at long range, and also had the fitness to support French attacks deep into the match, while also showing his often underrated passing ability.

“His performance? You saw him,” Deschamps said. “We were sure about recalling him. He is smart — on a technical level he has the capacity to read balls and project himself. He was really bright tonight and we needed that.”

In the build-up to Monday’s game, team mate Marcus Thuram said of the returning Kanté: “I have never seen anything like it, it's horrible. We can't play any more, we can't play in training any more. As soon as we have him on our team we know we have won.”

Kanté, as ever, cut a modest figure after being named man of the match and when Kylian Mbappe went off with a smashed nose late in the game, Kanté took over the captaincy for the first time.

“I wasn’t expecting that, it was an honour,” he said.

“I was a bit apprehensive at the start of the match but I enjoyed that feeling again. We wanted to make it difficult for the Austrians and it went pretty well I believe.”

Kanté said he never felt his form would fall by playing in the Saudi league. “The expectation level is very high there,” he said. “I always give my best there and just want to do the same here.”

Overall, Deschamps was satisfied with the victory, albeit secured by an own goal, but was clearly worried about the extent of Mbappe's injury, which looked to be a broken nose.

“He's not doing well, he's with the medical staff,” he said. “His nose got badly hit and we need to check that out and it's very unfortunate for us.

“The French team will always be stronger with Kylian but if he can't play we will do without him.” 

France delivered a 100th victory for Deschamps but it came at a cost as Mbappé suffered a broken nose.

It was by no means a vintage performance but, three years after bowing out of Euro 2020 in the last 16 to Switzerland on penalties, France offered enough evidence to suggest they will be go much deeper in Germany with Kanté magnificent.

It proved a decidedly mixed night for captain Mbappé though as he was left still searching for his first goal in a European Championship after some glaring misses and was substituted late on with blood oozing from his nose after an aerial clash.

He left the stadium in an ambulance to undergo X-rays and the French Football Federation later confirmed he had broken nose and would have a mask made.

“He's got a really bad nose,” said Deschamps. “We'll have to wait and see, the medical staff are dealing with it. We'll have to see what's going to be done and then how long it will take. It's very bad news for us tonight.

“Obviously, the French team with or without him, this is not the same thing. I hope he can be there,” added Deschamps, whose record now stands at 100 wins, 30 draws and 24 losses in his near 12 years at the helm.

Austria coach Ralf Rangnick had promised his in-form side, with one defeat in their last 16 matches, would go toe-to-toe with France and they were as good as his word.

Their relentless high-pressing and tackling never wavered and with their red-clad fans roaring them on they were in the contest until the end of a lengthy period of stoppage time.

“All in all the French earned the win, but that we were chasing the equaliser throughout speaks for the performance of our team,” Rangnick said.

Reuters