Even though Austria defeated France black and blue, they persevered and managed to prevail.

Maximilian Wober’s own goal put Austria out of the game, but Kylian Mbappe was left with a broken nose.

Austria made sure that it wasn’t a throwback France performance by combining tough love with relentless work off the ball.

If they played more instead of fighting, they might be a threat.

Before their first game, Didier Deschamps had made fun of the fact that all of his players were attractive men, and it appeared like their rivals in Dusseldorf were determined to ruin their good looks.

Although they tried, Ralf Rangnick’s troops were unable to deny the French the ideal, if uneasy, start against Les Bleus.

Prior to this match, Rangnick had expressed confidence in his team’s ability to contain Mbappe and company by applying intense pressure on France.

However, the future Real Madrid star was only rewarded with his first kick of the game in the second minute, which came from Konrad Laimer of Bayern Munich.

Austria was cutting down France’s hard-charging front line whenever the opportunity presented itself, not only with their pressing but also with their challenges.

It was somewhat effective; although the favourites’ chances were limited, they were not completely eliminated.

Mbappe had his first taste of goal before ten minutes, breaking fast down the left and causing Austrian keeper Patrick Pentz to push the ball into the side netting.

Rangnick had a good idea to halt the French talisman by depriving him of service, but he could not follow logic when confronted with the Parisian.

In contrast to Jude Bellingham, Mbappe does not control games by suckling all the activity into his own realm and imposing his will from there. The forward loiters, waits for his opportunity, and when he does step in, he can be very lethal.

While Austria was doing a respectable job of containing him on the left, the No. 10 quickly moved to the right and contributed significantly to the first goal.

Ousmane Dembele, who was also booted incessantly, cleared the ball and gave it to his captain, who then watched him take off.

With a swift step-over and change of pace, Mbappe burst past Phillipp Mwene, who was already on a booking, before cutting the ball back, which a startled Wober headed into his own net.

It was made the more agonising by the fact that it had occurred just two minutes after Austria had a fantastic opportunity, which saw Christoph Baumgartner stopped by Mike Maignan. In addition, France was handed a goal kick in spite of the save.

Rangnick will be upset at the ruling, but what really ought to worry us is how badly behaved his players were.

However, there was no evidence of composure following the interval, as Wober pushed Antoine Griezmann into the advertising boards just one minute into the resumption, leaving him with a cut on his head.

Mbappe chose to ride the challenges rather than winning fouls, and he ought to have made it two soon after the restart.

Following Adrien Rabiot’s forward pass, Mbappe sidestepped Kevin Danso’s rash attempt to break through Wober and go one-on-one. That seemed to be it, until he inexplicably twisted the attempt slightly.

Rangnick decided that enough was enough and sent on Marko Arnautovic in addition to withdrawing Wober.

Austria searched for a side that could cause issues, ballers rather than just bruisers, when they gave up on martial arts and started playing football.

When Marcel Sabizter was deftly sent into the box only to be pushed down by William Saliba, they became even more enraged with the Spanish referee, Jesus Gil Manzano. Manzano waived away any objections to the punishment.

However, there was still an advantage even when they started playing attractive football. Baumgartner slid to strike Laimer’s deft through pass, only to kick Maignan in the face.

Laimer then resumed his roughhousing of Mbappe, softly but cynically putting a hand in his face as the winger attempted to advance into the box.

After a headbutt with Danso, Mbappe and the French national team had cause for concern when their captain twisted his nose out of shape.