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By avoiding defeat against the Netherlands, Kante extended his Les Blues unbeaten run at major international competitions to 17 matches.
N’Golo Kante came within a hair’s breadth of losing in 90 minutes for France at Euro 2024 against the Netherlands on Friday, but ultimately kept the undefeated streak going.
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What is Kante’s unbeaten France streak?
Despite a goalless encounter in Leipzig, the former Chelsea midfielder claimed back-to-back Man of the Match awards at the ongoing European Championship finals in Germany.
The game could have turned out differently had Xavi Simons’ goal with 20 minutes remaining stood. However, the Dutchman’s strike was ruled out on-field and was corroborated by the VAR, thus seeing the match end without a winner.
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12:26 - 22.06.2024
Euro 2024: Premier League officials slammed for VAR usage
The delay before a decision was reached in Friday night’s game between the Netherlands and France has irked a former Premier League midfielder.
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22:12 - 21.06.2024
Netherlands 0-0 France: Mbappe missing, Griezmann wasteful and 4 observations in boring EURO 2024 draw
Group D favourites France failed to squeeze out three points against Netherlands' Oranje with key man Kylian Mbappe a mere spectator.
That did not prevent Kante from receiving plaudits post-game, with the France midfielder extending his unbeaten run at major competitions — World Cup or European Championship — to 17.
Who has Kante played during his France unbeaten run?
The 33-year-old midfielder's streak began at Euro 2016, where hosts France faced Romania, Albania, Ireland and Germany — he was uninvolved in the final defeat at the hands of Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal — and continued at the 2018 World Cup against Australia, Peru, Denmark, Argentina, Uruguay, Belgium and Croatia.
Given that defeats on penalties do not count as losses, Les Blues’ shootout loss to Switzerland at Euro 2020 is included as a draw along with games against Germany, Hungary and Portugal, which took the experienced midfielder's streak to 15 before adding another two games to that run at Euro 2024.
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What comes next?
Kante is expected to play a significant part for Didier Deschamps’s men for the rest of the finals. It remains to be seen if the 33-year-old features in Les Blues’ final Group D match against Poland on June 25.
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