MATCH REPORT: HUNGARY 1-1 FRANCE

Photo credit: Alex Livesey (UEFA/Getty Images)

Hungary held world champions France to a 1-1 draw in their Euro 2020 clash.

Attila Fiola’s strike just before the break was cancelled out by Antoine Griezmann’s 66^th minute equaliser but Didier Deschamps’ men were frustrated in their attempts to find a winner.

After a solid performance slightly lacking imagination against the Germans, this match was intended to be the 2018 World Cup winners’ opportunity to prove they were still the explosive free-scoring side that romped to that tournament victory.

Instead, it was the Magyars who won the plaudits, successfully shutting out some of the world’s deadliest attackers and looking for a time like they might even cause an almighty upset.

Fiola, a 31-year-old wing-back of Hungarian side Fehérvár, stole in ahead of Raphael Varane and tucked his strike beyond Hugo Lloris to put Hungary in front on 47 minutes.

It was a bitter ending to a half that the Frenchmen had dominated but they responded midway through the second period with Barcelona forward Griezmann scoring his first goal of the competition.

After that, Marco Rossi’s side succeeded in shutting out Les Blues, surviving a penalty shout in the final seconds, giving themselves an outside chance at qualification for the knockout stages if they can beat Germany next week and other results go their way.

Meanwhile France look all but through but will undoubtedly be troubled by their ability to beat one of the lowest ranked nations at the Championships.