Mbappé struggles at EURO 2024: France’s striker breaks unwanted record with first goal

Mbappé struggled at EURO 2024, particularly after suffering a broken nose against Austria and missing a match against the Netherlands. He was also having trouble scoring goals, with 20 shots without finding the back of the net by halftime in France’s final group game against Poland. This set an unwanted record for a French player at the European Championship before he finally scored his first goal of the tournament.

According to Opta, this was the most shots without a goal by a French player at the Euros since 1980. As a team, France had been struggling as well, managing only a 4.6 xG across their first few games with their only goal coming from an own goal by Austria. However, in the second half against Poland, Mbappé finally scored from a penalty, getting Les Bleus on the scoreboard and breaking his goal drought.

With this goal, Mbappé joined Just Fontaine with 13 major tournament goals for France, trailing only behind Michel Platini with 14 goals. Now, France is waiting for their first open play goal in the tournament as they prepare to face Germany next.