France and Germany savor beating rivals in crucial ties

France holds on

France was forced to hang on to preserve its third win in four group matches after Aurelien Tchouameni, its captain in the absence of Mbappe, was shown a second yellow card in the 76th for tripping Belgium midfielder Youri Tielemans.

Tielemans had earlier lifted a penalty kick over the bar in the 23rd, only for Kolo Muani to convert his own spot kick after Wout Faes was penalized for handball after falling to the ground attempting to challenge Bradley Barcola.

Lois Openda headed in the equalizer from Timothy Castagne's cross, with the goal initially ruled out for offside but awarded after a VAR check.

Kolo Muani, who has started only two games for PSG this season, grabbed the winner in the 62nd in Brussels by heading in Lucas Digne's leftwing cross.

France coach Didier Deschamps praised his match-winner.

Kolo Muani has been a rare starter for Paris Saint-Germain this season but has four goals in as many games for France.

"He's interesting, he's radiant," Deschamps told TF1. "He is confident and has a very specific profile where in his runs with the ball there is presence. He is a good header and with us he is very often successful."

Belgium dominated the opening exchanges and would have opened the scoring if Tielemans had not missed a penalty.

"We were shaken for the first 20 to 25 minutes where they (Belgium) put in a lot of intensity, while we made a lot of technical errors," Deschamps added. "When we were able to find solutions going forward, it was better for us.

"We had to shake them (the players) up. In relation to what we said, and what the players had said, it's mostly the mistakes, we had to calm down.

"We had to go forward and press well. Of course, they had chances, but so did we in the second half. We're happy to win this match, especially with 10 men."

France had several less experienced players in the lineup, which made the win all the more pleasing for Deschamps.

"It's a young team that doesn't have a lot of experience," he said. "There were seriousness and enthusiasm (for this match). It's better to win these kinds of games."