Preston North End skipper loses out against Kylian Mbappe and France in Euro 2024 qualifier

The Irishmen had only the task of facing off against World Cup finalists France, with their newly appointed captain Kylian Mbappe starting the game, in what will have been the toughest task many of Stephen Kenny’s side have faced, with a youthful side named.

Browne was named amongst the substitutes for the game, having started their last game, a friendly win over Latvia, 3-2. Robbie Brady and Troy Parrott were not named on the 12-man bench.

The Preston captain came on with 12 minutes to go in the game, with Ireland looking to find a way to level the contest. Ireland gave a good account of themselves in the game and conceded a wonderful goal scored by defender Benjamin Pavard whose strike from the edge of the area went in off the crossbar after picking up a stray pass from Burnley’s Josh Cullen.

Kenny’s men could have come away with a point, if not for a stunning save from France ‘keeper Mike Maignan in the final minutes of the match, reaching to the top corner of his goal to keep out Nathan Collins’ header that looked destined for the net.

Speaking about the game, Ireland boss Kenny said: “We have watched France’s last 20 games and we’ve never seen Kylian Mbappe, who I voted for as the best player in the world, have such a quiet night. I’ve never seen it, never seen it.

“We didn’t concede any chances up to the goal and that was disappointing. The substitutes made an impact and we finished strongly in the last 15 minutes. Our goalkeeper made an excellent save, but the save from Nathan Collins was out of this world, one of those incredible saves, so we’re disappointed not to get at least a point.

“It is a very important campaign for us. But for sure there’s a lot of points to play for and we want to make sure that we put ourselves really in contention coming into the last couple of games.”

Ireland’s next qualifying games will come in June, against Greece, before they welcome Gibraltar to the Aviva Stadium.