Poland defeated Northern Ireland 1-0 as the sides played out the first fixture of Group C at Euro 2016.

Poland were playing their first match of their third consecutive European Championships, having failed to win a game in their previous appearances.

Norther Ireland, who boasted the longest unbeaten record of any side heading into the tournament, were making their tournament debut.

Head-to-head encounters between the sides have traditionally gone the way of the Irish, with the Green and White Army winning three and drawing two of the six matches.

Poland dominated the early exchanges, but there were no clear-cut chances, as Poland had a number of efforts blocked.

The first real chance only came in the 31st minute when Arkadiusz Milik latched on to a ball from Lukasz Piszczek, only to sky it over the crossbar.

Bartosz Kapustka then had another chance for Poland but his effort did not trouble the goalkeeper.  Just a minute later Kapustka’s shot did require a save, as Michael McGovern was on hand to do so, 38 minutes gone.

The second-half began with renewed Polish pressure and Milik finally broke the deadlock with a powerful low strike on 51 minutes.

Ireland had a rare shot blocked on the 67th minute before Jakub Błaszczykowski fired wide for Poland. Kyle Lafferty then tried a spectacular overhead kick for the Irish, but his 76th minute shot was wayward.

Milik tried yet another shot on the turn in the 82nd minute but it was comfortably saved. Then, with time running out, the Irish almost pulled off a clever free kick.

It proved the final meaningful action of the game, as Poland closed out a 1-0 win.

Image: Uefa Website