After beginning their campaign with a 4-1 victory against Australia, France defeated Denmark 2-1 to become the first team to book their ticket to the Round of 16. Kylian Mbappé opened the scoring at the hour-mark, Andreas Christensen equalized shortly after, and Mbappé grabbed the winner in the 86th minute to secure three points and become the first defending champion since Brazil '06 to avoid a group stage elimination.

France's Second Phase of the Build-up Play

France relied on a 4+2 shape to build their possession against a narrow 5-4-1 Danish mid-block, with Kasper Hjulmand's side tending to prevent their opponent from enjoying central progression and forcing them to play out wide; it seemed that France's progression scheme was almost perfect for such intentions, with only four French players positioned high up.