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Denmark and France played out a stale goalless draw at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. The game turned out to be very ordinary as both teams lacked intensity and drive in their quest to secure all three points.
Les Bleus created the majority of goalscoring chances, keeping Kasper Schmeichel busy in goal during the second-half. However, there was nothing to write home about as both sides appeared content and settled for a point apiece.
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The result ensures that France top Group C with seven points and will face off against Argentina in the last-16, whilst Denmark comfortably secured second spot with an intriguing encounter against Croatia up next.
With that in mind, here's a look at three things that went wrong for Didier Deschamps' side during this match:
#3 Lack of creativity in midfield
France head coach Didier Deschamps opted to leave Paul Pogba on the bench and instead added another defensive midfielder, Steven N'Zonzi, to partner Chelsea's N'Golo Kanté ahead of their back four.
The change in personnel did not bode well for the French, as there was minimal support in attack from midfield as N'Zonzi and Kanté only created one key pass between them during the entire game.
Naturally, this shouldn't come as much of a surprise as they're better at breaking up play than creating opportunities for team-mates. However, N'Zonzi in particular, is known for his physical presence and has shown an eagerness to combine interchanging passes with others at Sevilla - which was not on show here.
Deschamps missed a trick by overlooking Bayern's Corentin Tolisso during the second-half, as he provides an attacking threat from central midfield given his incisive passing and can also score from time-to-time when called upon.
#2 Griezmann and Giroud misfire again
The partnership between Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud in attack is yet to really click at this year's World Cup. With that in mind, perhaps it's time for Deschamps to rethink his formation and switch to a 4-3-3, seeing Giroud get demoted to the substitutes' bench.
Here, it was more of the same. The duo finished the game with an average pass completion rate and combined for just two shots on goal. It's not as though they have not shown a willingness to work hard for each other, but nothing is coming off at present.
This has been the third consecutive game where the pair has failed to deliver - the first albeit, Giroud made a second-half substitute appearance. Griezmann has only scored once, from the penalty spot against Australia, while Giroud is yet to open his own goalscoring account.
The experienced Chelsea forward appears to be better suited coming off the bench, turning games around when called upon - while Griezmann has excelled playing in the lone striker role as he did during the European Championships two years ago, steering France to the final whilst collecting Golden Boot.
#1 Failure to capitalise on their dominance
Denmark were more than happy to sit deep and defend during the second-half, allowing France a greater deal of possession. Despite this though, the French lacked intensity in their play and were unable to make any of their control count as they crucially lacked end product.
67% possession, 11 attempts on goal and more than half of them were not genuine goalscoring opportunities. Schmeichel was only tested on a handful of occasions and in truth, he personally would have been expecting more action toward his goal.
Deschamps' team selection was equally questionable, having started with two defensive midfielders and playing the pair throughout - not considering sacrificing one to play a more attack-minded option from the bench.
Nabil Fekir appeared the only one who put an effort in, to win the game for his side during his 22-minute spell off the bench. In addition, there was limited support from the fullbacks too as there were only a couple of successful crosses delivered into the box.
Thomas Lemar was disappointing on his first start of the tournament thus far while Ousmane Dembélé too performed below the level we've seen regularly in previous seasons.
France's weaknesses have been exposed during the group stages, they're far from perfect and will have to work on their problems if they intend to progress deep into this tournament and remain in the hunt for the World Cup trophy next month.
