France finished in second place in their Euro 2024 Group D after a high-octane 1-1 draw with Poland at BVB Stadion Dortmund. The former World Cup winners had a plethora of opportunities to win the game in the first half itself, but couldn’t beat Skorupski, who made four crucial saves.
Mbappe scored a penalty to open the scoring in the 56th minute. Lewandowski equalised for Poland with a penalty of his own! This result meant Austria have topped Group D after beating The Netherlands 3-2. France ended up in second position!
France vs Poland Highlights
1′ – Kickoff
3′ – France enjoyed most of the early possession and were moving with ease as Poland started on the back foot
5′ – Barcola got past Frankowski and sent in a low pass in the centre of the Polish box, but Moder cleared it
6′ – Poland took the first shot on goal of the game. Zielinski pounced on a poor clearance by France and drilled in a shot towards the French goal’s bottom right corner, but Maignan got down quickly enough to claim it.
11′ – WHAT A MISS! France should have taken the lead. Dembele sent in an inviting ball into the Polish box. Barcola couldn’t reach it and the ball falls to Hernandez who shot towards the bottom left corner, but goalkeeper Skorupski saved it.
15′ – MASSIVE CHANCE! Szymanski’s out-swinging corner to the near post was headed away by Dembele, but only as far as Urbanski, who fired a right-footed shot from inside the box straight at Maignan.
19′ – SAVE! Kiwior gifted possession to France, with the ball falling to Kante, who made a clever pass to Dembele. The winger thumped his right footed shot straight at the goalkeeper
23′ – Zalewski ran at Kounde before whipping in a cross towards Lewandowski, but the ball goes over the striker and Saliba headed it away
24′ – Yellow Card – Nicola Zalewski
31′ – The game was being played at a slow pace with both teams having some possession, but aren’t able to make anything out of it
32′ – Mbappe passed the ball on the left to Barcola, who had no options in the middle, and he was tackled by Frankowski. France’s attackers are natural wingers, meaning it gets difficult for them to naturally take central positions until Giroud comes on
34′ – Zielinski crossed the ball towards Lewandowski in the box and the ball deflects past him onto Saliba and for a corner, but a goal kick is given
38′ – A corner for France saw Upamecano deflect the ball into Saliba’s path. With his back to the goal, Saliba tried to take an attempt, which goes over the bar
42′ – SAVE! Mbappe recovered a ball from Barcola and ran towards the byline and reached near Poland’s goal. From a tight angle, Mbappe was one-on-one with Skorupski, but the goalkeeper blocked his strike.
43′ – Yellow Card – Adrien Rabiot
45′ – SAVE! Once again, Mbappe got down the left side of the box and was one-on-one with Skorupski, but the goalkeeper blocked his strike.
45′ + 3′ – HALF TIME – 0-0
46′ – France kick off the second half
48′ – Dembele broke down the wing and played a clever pullback towards Kante, whose right footed shot was deflected behind for a corner
49′ – HUGE CHANCE! Two huge chances to score fall for Mbappe in a matter of moments. Coming in from the left, Mbappe takes a powerful shot, which is saved by the goalkeeper. France retain possession and the passage of play ends up again at Mbappe’s feet, but he curled his low strike just wide of the right post.
55′ – PENALTY TO FRANCE! Dembele got past Kiwior who brought the Frenchman down inside the box. The referee pointed towards the spot!
56′ – GOAL! Kylian Mbappe scored the penalty past the Polish goalkeeper in the bottom right corner of Poland’s goal
58′ – This was Mbappe’s first ever goal at the Euro Championship, with what was his 23rd shot in the competition
61′ – N’Golo Kante is subbed off for Antoine Griezmann
61′ – Bradley Barcola is subbed off for Olivier Giroud
61′ – Adrien Rabiot is subbed off for Eduardo Camavinga
65′ – With Giroud’s entrance into the fray, Mbappe shifted to his favoured left side
68′ – Nicola Zalewski is subbed off for Michal Skoras
68′ – Sebastian Szymanski also made his way off after completing 90% of his passes, with Swiderski taking his place.
72′ – Lewandowski stole possession in France’s half and moved inside from the left before driving a low right-footed effort from outside the box wide off the left post.
76′ – PENALTY TO POLAND! The Poles get a chance to level the game! Upamecano kicked through the back of Swiderski and gave away a penalty after a VAR check.
77′ – PENALTY MISSED BUT TO BE RETAKEN! Lewandowski missed the penalty, as Maignan made the save, but a VAR check saw the goalkeeper moved away from his line.
79′ – GOAL! Lewandowski scored the penalty in the second time of asking as he drilled is attempt right towards the bottom left corner of Maignan’s goal!
79′ – In the other game at this point, between Netherlands and Austria, Austria have taken a 3-2 lead with Marcel Sabitzer’s goal. If everything stays the same, Austria will top the table, with France coming second and The Netherlands coming third!
81′ – Aurelien Tchouameni is subbed off for Youssouf Fofana
82′ – Chance for Lewandowski but he fired wide from the left side of the French box!
86′ – Ousmane Dembele is subbed off for Randal Kolo Muani
87′ – Poland have come up with an incredible performance in this game regardless of the final result. They are looking good to finish strong in this game!
89′ – Yellow Card! Dawidowicz shown a yellow card for a foul on Giroud
90′ – Five minutes of added time! Austria still lead in their game and will end up top of the table if everything stays as it is at this moment!
90’+2′ – Mbappe gained possession on the left and tried to make space to get a shot away. He got to the edge and shot an effort away, but it deflected kindly into Skorupski’s gloves.
90’+2′ – Yellow Card! Swiderski shown a yellow card for a foul on Hernandez
FULL TIME! France 1-1 Poland! France end up second in their group as Austria beat Netherlands in the other match!
Player of the Match:
Kylian Mbappe came up with an incredible performance, continuously giving a headache to the Polish defence and deserved the Man of the Match award!
Key Moment
Robert Lewandowski getting the chance to retake his penalty was definitely a key moment of this game!
Conclusion
Despite France producing 2.35 expected goals, they couldn’t get the victory and finish in second place, with Austria winning Group D!
Also Read: WATCH: Kylian Mbappe scores his first Euro goal for France